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population overall. However, as a younger, predominantly immigrant population with relativelylow levels of home ownership – all factors associated with the use of cell phones rather thanlandlines – it is possible that the number of Muslim Americans is higher.As with the estimates that preceded it, the Pewforecast is an approximation, subject to the limitations ofthe methodology used to derive it. Pew’s estimate issomewhat higher than those obtained in other nationalsurveys. But it is significantly below some commonlyreported estimates of the Muslim population, includingseveral frequently cited by Muslim American groups.While this study represents perhaps the most rigorouseffort to date to scientifically estimate the size of theMuslim American population, the results should beinterpreted with caution.The Pew estimate of the adult population is largerthan would have been produced from data on religiousaffiliation collected in regular Pew national telephonesurveys conducted between 2000 and 2007. Self-identifiedMuslims made up about 0.5% of the 159,194 adultsinterviewed by Pew over the more than seven years. Butthe vast majority of these surveys were conducted only inEnglish. In the current survey, we were able to reach manyMuslims who might have been missed in English-onlysurveys.What Percentage of the U.S.Population is Muslim?National surveys in the past 10 yearssuggest Muslims comprise less than1% of the adult population.EstimatedSurvey% of U.S.Group Year adultsPew 2007 0.6Baylor 2006 0.2Pew* 2000-2007 0.5GSS** 1998-2006 0.5Gallup 1999-2001 0.3ARIS*** 2001 0.5NES**** 2000 0.2*Compiled Pew Research Center nationalsurveys from 2000 through 2007.**General Social Surveys conducted by theNational Opinion Research Center at theUniversity of Chicago in 1998, 2000, 2002,2004, 2006.***American Religious Identification Study,conducted by Barry A. Kosmin and EgonMayer of the City University of New YorkGraduate Center.****National Election Study conducted bythe University of Michigan.Pew’s projection of 1.4 Muslim adults is similar to an independent estimate of 1.5 millionproduced by Pew Hispanic Center demographer Jeffrey Passel, using data obtained from thesurvey along with data from the U.S. Census Bureau on nativity and nationality. Thisdemographic estimate is derived from the survey by taking account of the country of origin ofMuslim respondents and projecting their incidence among all households to the population atlarge. Given the fact that 72% of Muslim Americans are foreign-born or have roots abroad, it ispossible to use Census Bureau data to estimate how many first- and second-generationAmericans are Muslim from the answers provided during the screening of 57,000 households.Using further data from the survey and the Census Bureau, Passel’s model estimates thatthere are approximately 850,000 Muslim Americans under the age of 18 in addition to the 1.5million adults, for a total of 2.35 million Muslims nationwide.10 MUSLIM AMERICANS