U.S. Muslim Population Growing 'Rapidly'
01-04-2018
The Muslim-American population in the United States continues to grow "rapidly," according to a new Pew Research Center study.
But there were still only about 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S. in 2017, or about 1.1% of the total U.S. population.
The Pew Study says some metro areas, such as Washington, D.C., have large Muslim communities. And New Jersey has two or three times as many Muslim adults per capita as the national average.
By 2040, the report estimates Muslims will replace Jews as the nation's second-largest religious group after Christians.
Pew attributes the rise in numbers to higher fertility rates among Muslim Americans as well as the continued migration of Muslims to the U.S.
The report says religious conversions haven't had a large impact on the size of the U.S. Muslim population, largely because about as many Americans convert to Islam as leave the faith.
