The Muslim population is growing, and in the next two decades Muslims could become the second-largest religious group in the United States, according to a Pew Research study. (emphasis added)
However, that’s not the whole story.
The Pew Research Center combined studies they conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2017 with yearly data from the US Census (which does not track religious affiliation) to put together a portrait of the future of Muslims in America.
According to their data, the Muslim population is growing at an accelerated rate, and will more than double from an estimated 3.45 million in 2017 to an estimated 8.1 million in 2050. In the meantime, Muslims are expected to surpass Jews as the second-largest religious group.
Why? One easy answer is immigration — Pew’s research showed a record number of Muslims immigrated to the US in 2016. In fact, according to Pew, three-quarters of Muslims currently in the US are immigrants or children of immigrants.
There is another factor as well. On average, according to Pew, the Muslim population is younger than other religious groups, which means they have a higher fertility rate.
However, even as […]