The recent passing of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has renewed national reflection on the political and social trajectory of the African American community. In the spirit of Black History Month — a time dedicated to honoring the struggles, achievements, and enduring contributions of Black Americans — this Spotlight Analysis takes a closer look at the partisan affiliations of Black Americans in 2025 and the relationship between Black Americans’ religious affiliation and partisanship. Finally, we consider how Black Americans view President Donald Trump by religion, age, gender, and education levels.

Religious Affiliation Among Black Americans From 2013 to 2025

As of 2025, around six in ten African Americans identify as Protestant (59%) and 6% identify as Catholic. The percentage of Black Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated grew 9 percentage points over the last decade, from 16% in 2013 to 25% in 2025. The percentage of Black Americans who identify as Protestants decreased from 71% in 2013 to 59% in 2025, while the percentage of Black Catholics remained consistent during this time frame.^[1]

Party Affiliation Among Black Americans From 2013 to 2025

In the last decade, the percentage of Black Americans who identify as Democrats has decreased 16 percentage points (from 65% in 2013 to 49% in 2025), with the party losing larger swaths of the community since 2021. The percentage of Black Americans who identify as independent has remained consistent, with one-quarter of Black Americans identifying as politically independent (27%) in 2025. Just 6% identify as Republicans.^[2]

As of 2025, 59% of Black Protestants identify as Democrats, a decline from 70% in 2013 when PRRI started collecting this data. By contrast, 24% of Black Protestants identify as independents and just 7% as Republicans.

 The percentage of Black Catholics who identify as Democrats has also declined over the past decade from 68% in 2013 to 56% in 2025. By contrast, Black Catholics who identify as Republican increased from 5% in 2013 to 10% in 2025. The percentage of Black Catholics who identify as independent remained relatively stable.

Notably, religiously unaffiliated Black Americans were less likely to identify as either Democrats or Republicans than their Christian counterparts. The share of Black unaffiliated Americans who identify as Democrats declined from 51% in 2013 to 34% in 2025, while the percentage of Black unaffiliated Americans who identify as independent declined from 40% in 2013 to 34% in 2025. As of 2025, just 3% identify as Republican. Black unaffiliated Americans were the least likely of all three groups to vote in the 2024 election, with 70% saying they did not vote, compared with 39% of Black Protestants and 38% of Black Catholics.

Trump Favorability Among Black Americans

Support for President Donald Trump has remained consistently low among Black Americans over the past five years (from 19% in 2020 to 17% in 2025). Black men were significantly more likely than Black women to hold favorable views of Trump in 2025 (23% of Black men vs. 12% of Black women). This gap was similar in 2020 (25% vs. 15%).

There were no meaningful changes in Trump’s favorability among Black Americans with or without a college degree between 2020 and 2025. In 2025, nearly two in ten Black Americans ages 18-29 (18%), ages 30-49 (17%), and ages 50-64 (18%) held favorable views of Trump. Just 13% of Black Americans 65 and over also held favorable views. Finally, support for Trump is very low among unaffiliated and Black Christians. A little less than two in ten Black Protestants (17%) and Black religiously unaffiliated Americans (17%) hold favorable views of Trump.

[1] The remaining 7% of Black Americans identify as Jehovah’s Witnesses (5%), Muslims (2%), other non-Christians (2%), or Latter-Day Saints (1%).

[2] The majority of Black Americans identify as Democrat, independent, or Republican, but a smaller percentage identify with some other party or refused to answer. This percentage has more than doubled over the past decade, from 7% in 2013 to 18% in 2025.