Buddhist Priests and Contemplatives

The percentage of Americans who practice Buddhism increased (from 0.7 percent to 1 percent) from 2007 to 2018, according to America’s Changing Religious Landscape, a report from the Pew Research Center. It’s estimated that there are fewer than 4 million Buddhists in all of North America, which may make it challenging to find a position as a priest or a spot in a monastery. Much better opportunities are found in Asian countries that have large Buddhist populations. For example, approximately 97 percent of Cambodians, 93 percent of Thai, 33 percent of Japanese, and 22 percent of South Koreans are Buddhists. A long-term projection (published in 2015 and the latest available in 2024) from the Pew Research Center projects that, after increasing from 2010 to 2030, the global Buddhist population will begin to decline, eventually reaching 486 million in 2050 (similar to levels recorded in 2010).