A Pew Research Center analysis reveals that just 54% of Americans raised Latter-day Saint still identify with the faith as adults, down sharply from 70% in 2007, according to Axios. The 16-percentage-point decline over two decades marks one of the steepest retention drops among major U.S. religious groups tracked by Pew.

The study does not break out reasons for leaving, but the period covers heightened visibility of Church history controversies, LGBTQ policy conflicts, and the rise of online ex-Mormon communities. Young women show the lowest retention rates, though Pew does not release demographic details in the summary.

The Church counts membership by baptism records and does not publish its own retention or activity statistics, making independent surveys the primary source for these trends.