The American Bible Society’s latest report underscores a strong connection between Bible engagement and overall flourishing, especially among Generation Z and millennial groups.
The study reports that young adults who actively read the Bible had an average score of 8.1 on the Human Flourishing Index. By comparison, the overall average score for Gen Zers was 6.8, the lowest among all generations surveyed. Boomer respondents, however, scored the highest at 7.5, with 45% of them reporting high flourishing.
The Index, which is a scale developed by Harvard University to assess six domains of life, including mental and physical health, happiness and meaning.
Data analysis revealed that 43% of Americans who "strongly sensed God’s activity in their lives reported high flourishing," whereas only 41% of those who rejected this belief did.
The report found a significant link between Bible reading frequency and flourishing, with daily readers averaging 7.9 on the index, compared to 6.8 among those who never read the Bible. Monthly church attendance among devout Christians also was associated with higher scores on the flourishing scale.
The data was collected through 2,656 online interviews conducted in January across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., via the AmeriSpeak panel managed by NORC at the University of Chicago. The findings indicate a "general upward movement in flourishing scores across nearly every domain," emphasizing positive trends in various areas of well-being.
A notable development was the improvement in social relationships among Gen Zers, with scores increasing from 6.6 in 2024 to 7.0 this year. This progress positioned them ahead of millennials and Gen Xers in that particular category, which researchers identified as a "significant development for a generation often associated with social isolation."
The report also references the Global Flourishing Study, which ranks the United States 15th out of 22 countries in overall human flourishing, and 12th in secure flourishing. Geographic trends showed that Bible engagement in the Northeast and West rose by 18%, with the Midwest experiencing a 15% increase. Meanwhile, the South’s engagement levels remained steady.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, despite its reputation for low religious affiliation, 40% of millennials and 37% of Gen Zers reported reading the Bible—numbers slightly above the national averages of 39% and 36%. Conversely, only 19% of adults over 60 in the Bay Area read the Bible, compared to 46% of seniors nationwide.
A recent segment of the report highlighted that "Bible engagement in the U.S. has increased for the first time in four years, reversing a post-pandemic decline." Approximately 11 million more Americans are reading the Bible now than in 2024, with the most notable increases among millennials, Gen Xers, and men.
The American Bible Society estimates that "roughly 71 million Americans fall into the 'movable middle'—those who are curious about Scripture but not yet actively engaged."
