The recent Pew Research Center survey of American Muslims indicates the following demographic profile for this population:
While 52% of adult Americans overall are female and 48% male, 54% of adult American Muslims are male, while 46% are female.
American Muslims are a younger group than Americans in general. 30% of adult American Muslims are aged between 18 and 29, while only 13% are aged 55 or more. On the other hand, 21% of adult Americans in general are aged between 18 and 29, and 30% are 55 or older.
60% of adult American Muslims are currently married, as opposed to 57% of adult Americans as a whole.
The racial composition of American Muslims is different from that of the overall American population. Only 38% of American Muslims are white, as opposed to 77% of Americans as a whole. Blacks account for 26% of American Muslims but 11% of Americans. Asians make up 20% of American Muslims and 5% of Americans in general. 4% of American Muslims are Hispanic, as are 13% of Americans as a whole.
In educational attainment, Muslim Americans are very similar to Americans in general. 10% of American Muslims have gone to graduate school, as have 9% of Americans as a whole. 14% of American Muslims have a bachelor's degree, as do 16% of Americans as a whole. However, as many as 21% of adult American Muslims have not graduated from high school, while the figure for Americans as a whole is 16%.
Income-wise, Muslim Americans are also very close to the overall American population. While 16% of American Muslim households have an annual income of US $100,000 (Canadian $108,000) or above, the same was true of 17% of American households overall. Again, while 35% of American Muslim households earn less than US $30,000 (Canadian $32,400) a year, so do 33% of American households overall.
However, in home ownership, American Muslims are far behind Americans as a whole: 68% of adult Americans own a home, but only 41% of American Muslims do.
Income disparities between Muslims and non-Muslims are much greater in four Western European countries than in the US. 45% of French Muslim households have an annual income of €17,500 (Canadian $25,400) or less, compared to only 27% of French households overall. 73% of Spanish Muslim households have an annual income of €14,500 (Canadian $21,100) or less, compared to 50% of Spanish households overall. 53% of German Muslim households have an annual income of €18,000 (Canadian $26,100) or less, as opposed to 35% of German households overall. 61% of British Muslim households have an annual income of ₤20,000 (Canadian $42,800) or less, compared to 39% of British households overall.
Interestingly, 23% of American Muslims live in households that contain both Muslims and non-Muslims.
59% of American Muslim households contain children.
50% of American Muslims are Sunnis, while 16% are Shi'ites. As many as 22% do not belong to a specific sect.
91% of American converts to Islam were born in the United States.
59% of Muslim converts in the US are African-American, while 34% are white. 55% of converts are Sunni, while 6% are Shi'ite.
49% of converts embraced Islam when they were less than 21 years old. 67% of American converts to Islam were Protestants before they became Muslims, 10% were Catholics, while 4% were Orthodox Christians. 15% did not observe any religion before becoming Muslims.
58% of American converts to Islam embraced the religion because of the beliefs and practices of Islam. 18% did so for reasons primarily connected with family and marriage.
86% of American Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, while 78% of American Christians think the same about the Bible. Only 50% of American Muslims think that the Qur'an is the
literal word of God, while 40% of American Christians have this view of the Bible.
60% of American Muslims believe that there is more than one correct way of interpreting "Islamic teachings".
74% of American Muslims are satisfied with the mosques in the areas where they live.
41% of American Muslims report praying five times a day. Another 20% perform some of the five prayers.
48% of American Muslim men and 45% of American Muslim women believe that women should pray at the mosque "separately from men". 20% of Muslim men and 26% of Muslim women think that women should pray at the mosque "behind men, not separately".
78% of American Muslims report being "very happy" or "pretty happy" with their lives. The same is true of 87% of Americans as a whole.
47% of American Muslims think of themselves as "Muslim first", while 28% see themselves as "American first". On the other hand, 42% of American Christians think of themselves as "Christian first", while 48% see themselves as "American first".
51% of American Muslims are "very worried" or "somewhat worried" that "women wearing the hijab will be treated poorly". Curiously, only 44% of American women who always wear the hijab share this concern.
It seems that, overall, African Americans face more prejudice than American Muslims. For example, 26% of American Muslims say they were "treated or viewed with suspicion" in the past year, while the same is true of 33% of African Americans.
Muslim Americans who voted in the 2004 presidential election backed John Kerry over George W. Bush by a 71-14 margin.
Only 63% of adult Muslim US citizens are registered to vote, while 76% of adult Americans are overall.
55% of American Muslims think that the current US War on Terrorism is not "a sincere effort to refuce terrorism". This compares with 63% of Turkish Muslims, 66% of Moroccan Muslims, 52% of Jordanian Muslims and 59% of Pakistani Muslims.
While 78% of American Muslims believe that suicide bombing can never be justified, this view is shared by 64% of French Muslims, 69% of Spanish Muslims, 70% of British Muslims, 83% of German Muslims, only 28% of Nigerian Muslims, 43% of Jordanian Muslims, 45% of Egyptian Muslims, 61% of Turkish Muslims, 69% of Pakistani Muslims, and 71% of Indonesian Muslims.
61% of American Muslims think that a way can be found "for Israel and Palestinian rights to coexist". 67% of Americans overall, as well as 67% of Israelis overall, share this view.
This is the fourth (of four) posts in a Notes on Religion series on the Pew Research Center's
survey of American Muslims, released in May 2007.
Here are links to the other three:
[
First post] [
Second Post] [
Third Post] [Fourth Post]
This Ramadan, "Speaking of Faith" (by American Public Media) has launched a series of Ramadan reflections called "Revealing Ramadan" by Muslims all over the US, as well as a few Muslims living in other places, such as Spain and Britain.
