Cult statistics

An estimated 5 to 7 million Americans have been involved in cults, or cult-like groups.

The total number of these groups ranges from 3,000 to 5,000. It is hard to get a precise number as cults change their names, splinter off into other groups, or shut down in one area only to open back up in another.

There are approximately 180,000 new cult recruits every year.

Do people ever get out of cults?

Yes. Of the numbers of people who get involved, more people leave than stay. Most leave on their own, yet there are a number who need the help of family, friends, and specialists to help them exit.

Our counseling service can help people explore options when loved ones have been unable to leave the group on their own.

For further information regarding the prevalence of cults, see the organizations and websites listed in our resources secrtion.

How has the cult phenomenon changed over time?

While many people are under the impression that cults have diminished, or even disappeared, they are actually just as prevalent as they were decades ago. They have become more sophisticated, and have taken on names, which mimic those of established groups. Some have also become quite litigious, and have therefore had great success in keeping their critics quiet and limiting public access to information about them.

Cults no longer focus solely on the young and searching. They have expanded their recruitment efforts to include adults and senior citizens. With the latter, they can bring in more money by preying on issues around mid-life crises, and fears about aging (promising health, financial security for yourself and future generations, and even immortality).

Some smaller cult groups have gone national, and international, while others have been disbanded. A number of cult groups have now been around long enough to have a new generation of cultists born into them.

Many cults change their names in response to public education and exposure of their true agendas. They retain the same basic philosophy as before, yet are able to continue undetected.

A number of cultic groups do work within the community to establish a respectable name. Their work is sometimes even publicly recognized by community leaders.

Cults may have originally started as groups that had integrity and a respectable cause yet have become became cultic as the leader designed his or her, role to be more controlling and manipulative.

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