31%
Increase from the 2010 count of 2,106 mosques to the 2020 ISPU count of 2,769.
Research / Mosque growth
Research & data
Mosque growth in the United States
Institutional growth is one of the clearest, most measurable changes in the American religious landscape. The figures below come from the decadal US Mosque Survey and the 2020 U.S. Religion Census. This page does not list, map, or give addresses for individual mosques.
The US Mosque Survey is a decadal study associated with Faith Communities Today and, in 2020, published with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. Lead researcher Ihsan Bagby has also supplied the Muslim counts used by the U.S. Religion Census. The studies count a mosque as a Muslim organization that organizes Jum’ah prayer, conducts other Islamic activities, and controls the space in which those activities are held.
U.S. mosque counts from decadal studies
Mosques counted
| Year | Figure | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 962 | Published estimate or count |
| 2000 | 1,209 | Published estimate or count |
| 2010 | 2,106 | Published estimate or count |
| 2020 | 2,769 | Published estimate or count |
Counts come from the US Mosque Survey series led by Ihsan Bagby, conducted with Faith Communities Today / the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership. The 1994, 2000, and 2010 counts are reported in The American Mosque 2011. The 2020 count of 2,769 is from ISPU Report 1 of the US Mosque Survey 2020. The 2020 U.S. Religion Census, using the same research cycle, reports 2,771 mosques (Appendix K and the main census volume)—a difference of two. This site charts the ISPU 2020 figure of 2,769 and notes the census figure beside it. These studies define a mosque as a Muslim organization that organizes Jum'ah prayer, conducts other Islamic activities, and controls the space in which activities are held. They do not include airport or hospital prayer spaces used only for Jum'ah, and they exclude some groups the authors placed outside the Sunni and Shi'ite mainstream. This site does not publish addresses or maps of individual mosques.
What the 2020 studies add
4,453,908
Muslim adherents in the 2020 U.S. Religion Census, with 2,771 mosques. The census describes this as an increase of nearly 700 mosques and nearly 1.9 million adherents since 2010.
31%
Share of all U.S. mosques located in New York, California, and Texas, according to the 2020 mosque survey. The Religion Census reports Muslims in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with five states — New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Texas — each having more than 300,000 Muslims.
Purpose-built mosques in the United States
Purpose-built mosques
| Year | Figure | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 314 | Published estimate or count |
| 2010 | 632 | Published estimate or count |
| 2020 | 1,025 | Published estimate or count |
Figures are from ISPU's US Mosque Survey 2020, Report 1. The study reports that 26% of mosques were purpose-built in 2000 (314 buildings), 30% in 2010 (632), and 37% in 2020 (1,025). The remainder were typically purchased or rented facilities (including former churches and houses).
Average Jum'ah (Friday congregational) attendance
Average attendees per mosque
| Year | Figure | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 353 | Published estimate or count |
| 2020 | 410 | Published estimate or count |
US Mosque Survey 2020, Report 1: average Jum'ah attendance was 353 in 2010 and 410 in 2020, a 16% increase. The same report says 72% of mosques recorded a 10% or greater increase in Jum'ah attendance, and that the share of mosques with Jum'ah attendance over 500 rose from 12% in 2000 to 23% in 2020.
Location and building trends
The 2020 survey reports a shift toward suburban sites. Mosques in towns and small cities fell from 20% in 2010 to 6% in 2020; downtown locations fell from 17% to 6% over the same period, while shares in older and newer suburbs rose. Two-thirds of mosques (66%) had moved to their present location since 2000.
The same report asked whether mosques had met “significant resistance” from a neighborhood or city when seeking permission to move, expand, or build. It found that 35% of mosques that sought such permission in 2010–2019 reported resistance, compared with an average of 25% in 1980–2009. Those figures describe the study’s survey of mosque leaders; they are not a legal finding in any particular case.
Civic debate about zoning, historic districts, traffic, and comparable treatment of churches, synagogues, and mosques is legitimate. Equal treatment under land-use law, including the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, cuts in every direction. This project does not support obstruction aimed at a religious community as such, and it will not publish targeting information about particular houses of worship.