Public Religion Research Institute

What Public Religion Research Institute does

Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization founded in 2009 by Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., and headquartered at 1400 16th Street NW, Suite 525, Washington, DC. It conducts independent empirical research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public life, producing flagship annual outputs including the American Values Survey, the 40,000-respondent PRRI Census of American Religion, the interactive American Values Atlas covering all 50 states plus DC, and the PRRI Data Vault of downloadable survey microdata. Methodology rests on probability-based sampling through Ipsos's KnowledgePanel (an address-based frame derived from the USPS Delivery Sequence File), supplemented by opt-in panels for smaller-state oversampling, with post-stratification weighting against CPS and ACS benchmarks; proprietary composite instruments such as the Christian Nationalism Scale, the PRRI Immigration Policy Scale, and the Right-Wing Authoritarian Scale enable nuanced subgroup analysis.

The institute serves a horizontal audience that includes national and regional news media (USA Today, Axios, Newsweek, CNN, Religion News Service, Washington Post), academic researchers who access Data Vault datasets and participate as Senior Democracy Fellows, Public Fellows, or Affiliated Scholars, policy advocates, and engaged members of the public reached through the Substack newsletter, social channels, and webinars. Distribution is direct-to-user via prri.org and ava.prri.org, with no commercial products sold — all research, reports, toplines, and datasets are made available for free.

PRRI is funded primarily through foundation grants; the 2025 American Values Survey was lead-funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York with additional support from the Ford Foundation and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, supplemented by individual donations solicited through prominent calls-to-action on the homepage. Leadership comprises Robert P. Jones (President & Founder), Melissa Deckman, Ph.D. (CEO), and Daniel Cox (Director of Research), supported by the fellowship ecosystem. The organization has no parent company, no equity investors, no ticker listing, and operates as a standalone 501(c)(3)-style nonprofit with a small core staff of 1-10 employees.

Name

Public Religion Research Institute

Legal name

Public Religion Research Institute

Website

https://prri.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that conducts large-scale, probability-based surveys on the intersection of religion, culture, and public life, distributing findings and datasets free to media, academic, policy, and public audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Science Research

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (541820), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Life Sciences PR (BPAFADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Reputation Management & Online PR (BPAFADAN)

Keywords

• Public opinion research
• Religion and politics
• Survey research
• Social science research
• Nonprofit polling

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: PRRI is funded by foundation grants. The 2025 American Values Survey was made possible through the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with additional support from the Ford Foundation, and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.
2. Individual Donations: PRRI solicits individual donations through prominent 'DONATE' and 'Support Our Work' calls-to-action on its homepage (prri.org/donate), typical of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding model.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that conducts large-sample, probability-based public opinion surveys at the intersection of religion, culture, and public life. It produces flagship research outputs including the annual American Values Survey, the PRRI Census of American Religion (a 40,000-respondent annual census), and the interactive 50-state American Values Atlas, and distributes its findings free to the public through reports, an interactive data tool, a downloadable Data Vault, webinars, and media partnerships.

Product overview

Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization offering a portfolio of research products rather than a single unified software platform. Its core offerings include the American Values Atlas interactive data tool, the annual PRRI Census of American Religion (a registered trademark using a 40,000-person sample), the flagship annual PRRI American Values Survey, and the PRRI Data Vault for downloadable datasets. These research products feed downstream outputs such as Survey Reports (e.g., "The New Immigration Crackdown," "Trump's Unprecedented Actions Deepen Asymmetric Divides," and 50-state atlases), Spotlight Analyses, the PRRI Voices commentary stream, press releases, and PRRI's Substack newsletter. Supporting programs include the PRRI Public Fellows Program, the Senior Democracy Fellows, the PRRI Bookshelf of affiliated publications, and webinars such as "America at 250: Competing Visions of Democracy and National Identity." The 2025 American Values Survey was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with additional support from the Ford Foundation and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PRRI Census of American Religion: The annual PRRI Census of American Religion uses a large national random sample to analyze trends in American religious affiliation.
• American Values Atlas
• American Values Survey
• PRRI Data Vault

Products and services

• American Values Atlas An interactive mapping tool allowing users to explore the religious, cultural, and demographic changes in the United States based on PRRI's large-sample survey data across all 50 states plus Washington, DC. Targeted at journalists, academic researchers, policy advocates, and engaged members of the public.
• PRRI Census of American Religion An annual census-style survey described as the most comprehensive resource available on religious diversity in America, using a random sample of 40,000 Americans to analyze national-level trends in American religious affiliation. A registered trademark of PRRI.
• PRRI American Values Survey PRRI's flagship annual public opinion survey covering topics such as democracy, the economy, immigration, religious identity, and American national identity. It serves as the empirical foundation for many of PRRI's published reports and spotlight analyses and is made possible through foundation grant funding.
• PRRI Data Vault A searchable repository that allows users to find and download PRRI survey question datasets for independent secondary analysis. Designed for academic researchers, journalists, and policy analysts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5,543 U.S. adults surveyed for the 2025 American Values Survey with +/- 1.79 percentage point margin of error
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Ipsos Public Affairs: Global market research and public opinion firm whose KnowledgePanel infrastructure PRRI directly relies upon. Comparable in survey methodology but operates as a commercial vendor rather than a thematic peer.
• SSRS: Full-service survey research firm whose probability panel and field operations are comparable infrastructure to PRRI's Ipsos KnowledgePanel-based methodology. Functions as a vendor/partner comparable rather than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Echelon Insights: Republican-leaning public opinion research and data firm producing surveys on religion, culture, and politics. Comparable topical focus to PRRI, particularly on Christian nationalism and faith communities, from an opposing perspective.
• Survey Center on American Life: Nonpartisan research center producing nationally representative surveys on American social, cultural, and political attitudes. Comparable scale, topical focus, and academic citation profile to PRRI.
• American National Election Studies (ANES): Long-running academic survey program producing high-quality election-related public opinion data. Comparable in methodological rigor and academic audience overlap, though narrower topical scope than PRRI.
• Pew Research Center: Nonprofit, nonpartisan public-opinion research organization producing large-sample surveys on religion, politics, and social trends. Closest comparable to PRRI in mission, methodology, and primary audiences (media, academia, policymakers).
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent, nonprofit research organization that conducts large-scale probability-based surveys (e.g., General Social Survey, AmeriSpeak Panel). Directly comparable methodology and academic distribution model to PRRI.

Broad incumbents

• Gallup: Established polling organization producing U.S. national surveys on politics, religion, and well-being. Overlaps with PRRI in topic coverage and media citation patterns but operates at much larger scale across commercial and nonprofit clients.

Regional players

• PRRI / Heartland Monitor-style programs: Heartland Monitor (Des Moines Register/Mediacom) conducts national surveys on American values with regional emphasis. Comparable content area (American values, religion, culture) but distinct geographic and media positioning.

Emerging players

• Public Religion Project / Faith & Public Life: Smaller nonprofit organizations operating at the intersection of religion and public life. Comparable niche focus to PRRI but with substantially smaller research footprint and audience reach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PublicReligion
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1GzzUoUV9zsSB-FEOJDryg
• Facebookfacebook.com/PublicReligion
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-religion-research-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/prripoll

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Public Religion Research Institute