Millions more Americans are curious about the Bible, even as engagement slips: Report

For people of faith heartened by the recent resurgence in Bible reading and sales, the latest State of the Bible report offers a mix of encouraging signs, discouraging news – and plenty of uncertainty.

The first batch of data from the American Bible Society’s 2026 State of the Bible report was released this week, about three months after Circana BookScan reported a 21-year high for Bible sales in the U.S. for 2025, with sales from last year doubling numbers from 2019.

The new State of the Bible report doesn’t throw water on such strong numbers, but it also doesn’t contain the celebratory tone last year’s report did, either.

On the encouraging side, the report found that the number of Americans who are “Scripture Disengaged” – those who rarely interact with the Bible and show little evidence that it shapes their decisions or relationships – has declined since 2024, falling from an estimated 151 million to 146 million today.

Even more encouraging, the new data shows the “Movable Middle” – people who are curious about the Bible even though they don’t read it often – continues to grow, rising from 25% of the population in 2024 to 27% last year and 28% today. 

“Many of those in the Movable Middle are clearly coming from the ranks of the Bible Disengaged, which has shrunk by 5 million adults over the past two years,” the report said.

But in a note of discouraging news, the share of “Bible Engaged” Americans – those who read Scripture often and are shaped by it – slipped from 20% in 2025 to 17%, reversing last year’s uptick from 2024’s 18%. 

The mixed data raises a key question about what comes next.

“Is 2026 a return to normal after the false hope of the 2025 numbers?” the report asked. “Or was 2025 a first step toward renewed interest in the Bible, with the 2026 numbers being a temporary setback? Once again, time will tell.”

John Farquhar Plake, American Bible Society’s chief innovation officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series, said the report has plenty of good news for church leaders.

“Though Scripture engagement has come back down, the number of Americans who are interested in and open to the Bible has swelled by nine million people over the last two years,” Plake said. “Bible Curious Americans tell us that they would welcome someone to guide them through the complexity of the Bible. We see a significant opportunity for both the church and individual believers to step up and engage their neighbors.”

One quarter of Americans (25%) read the Bible at least once a week, with 9% reading it daily.  

This year, the State of the Bible report also surveyed Americans about their Bible reading habits, including how much of Scripture they’ve read in their lifetime. Nearly one in five Americans (17%) say they’ve read all of the Bible, while a similar share (17%) say they’ve read most of it. Another 14% say they’ve read about half, meaning 48% of all U.S. adults report reading at least half of Scripture. Only 10% of Americans say they’ve never read any of the Bible.  

The report was based on interviews with 2,649 U.S. adults and was conducted in January.