One in Six Churchgoers, Fewer Than One in a Hundred Churches

Megachurches make up less than one percent of Protestant congregations in the United States. They hold 17 percent of the people who attend one.

• That works out to roughly 10 million people in a weekend service.
• Churches running under 100 are 69 percent of all congregations, and all of them together account for about 20 percent of attenders.
• The median congregation in America gathers about 70 people a week.
• Flip the question from churches to people and the median worshiper is sitting in a room of 500 or more.
• Figures come from the Faith Communities Today study through the Hartford Institute, reported this week by Lifeway Research.

Nearly every book, conference, and podcast about the American church is written from inside that room of 500. The median American church is an Iowa church, and 70 people on a Sunday morning is the normal unit of the Great Commission here.