List of U.S. states and territories by religiosity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The degree of religiosity in the population of the United States can be compared to that in other countries and compared state-by-state, based on individual self-assessment and polling data.

Methodologies[]

The Gallup Poll assesses religiosity around the world,[1] asking "Is religion important in your daily life?" and in the United States by state, asking the degree to which respondents consider themselves to be religious. The Pew Research Center and Public Religion Research Institute have conducted studies of reported frequency of attendance to religious service.[2] The Harris Poll has conducted surveys of the percentage of people who believe in God.[3]

Results[]

Religious Denominations (Pew Research 2014)[]

Religion in the United States by State and the District of Columbia (2014)
Region Protestant (%) Catholic (%) Mormon (%) Other Christian (%) Other (%) Irreligion (%) Don't know (%) References
Alabama Alabama 78.0 7.0 1.0 <1.0 1.0 12.0 1.0 [4]
Mississippi Mississippi 77.0 4.0 1.0 <1.0 2.0 14.0 1.0 [5]
Tennessee Tennessee 73.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 14.0 1.0 [6]
Arkansas Arkansas 70.0 8.0 1.0 <1.0 3.0 18.0 1.0 [7]
West Virginia West Virginia 70.0 6.0 2.0 <1.0 3.0 18.0 1.0 [8]
Oklahoma Oklahoma 69.0 8.0 1.0 <1.0 2.0 18.0 1.0 [9]
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 67.0 9.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 18.0 1.0 [10]
North Carolina North Carolina 66.0 9.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 20.0 1.0 [11]
South Carolina South Carolina 66.0 10.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 19.0 1.0 [12]
Kentucky Kentucky 65.0 10.0 <1.0 <1.0 2.0 22.0 1.0 [13]
Iowa Iowa 60.0 18.0 <1.0 <1.0 1.0 21.0 1.0 [14]
Missouri Missouri 58.0 16.0 1.0 <1.0 3.0 20.0 1.0 [15]
Virginia Virginia 58.0 12.0 2.0 1.0 6.0 20.0 <1.0 [16]
Kansas Kansas 57.0 18.0 1.0 1.0 4.0 20.0 <1,0 [17]
Louisiana Louisiana 57.0 26.0 <1.0 2.0 2.0 13.0 1.0 [18]
South Dakota South Dakota 57.0 22.0 <1.0 <1.0 3.0 18.0 <1.0 [19]
Ohio Ohio 53.0 18.0 1.0 1.0 4.0 22.0 <1.0 [20]
Indiana Indiana 52.0 18.0 1.0 <1.0 2.0 26.0 <1.0 [21]
Maryland Maryland 52.0 15.0 1.0 2.0 8.0 23.0 <1.0 [22]
Michigan Michigan 51.0 18.0 <1.0 2.0 5.0 24.0 1.0 [23]
Nebraska Nebraska 51.0 23.0 1.0 <1.0 4.0 20.0 <1,0 [24]
North Dakota North Dakota 51.0 26.0 <1.0 <1.0 3.0 20.0 <1.0 [25]
Minnesota Minnesota 50.0 22.0 1.0 <1.0 5.0 20.0 2.0 [25]
Texas Texas 50.0 23.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 18.0 <1.0 [26]
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 47.0 24.0 <1.0 1.0 6.0 21.0 1.0 [27]
United States United States 46.5 20.8 1.6 1.7 5.9 22.8 0.6 [28]
Delaware Delaware 46.0 22.0 <1.0 1.0 6.0 23.0 1.0 [29]
Florida Florida 46.0 21.0 1.0 2.0 6.0 24.0 <1.0 [30]
Wisconsin Wisconsin 44.0 25.0 <1.0 2.0 4.0 25.0 <1.0 [31]
Colorado Colorado 43.0 16.0 2.0 2.0 5.0 29.0 2.0 [32]
Illinois Illinois 43.0 28.0 <1.0 2.0 6.0 22.0 1.0 [33]
Oregon Oregon 43.0 12.0 4.0 2.0 7.0 31.0 1.0 [34]
Wyoming Wyoming 43.0 14.0 9.0 4.0 3.0 26.0 <1.0 [35]
Montana Montana 42.0 17.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 30.0 <1.0 [36]
Washington, D.C. District of Columbia 41.0 20.0 2.0 1.0 9.0 25.0 1.0 [37]
Washington (state) Washington 40.0 17.0 3.0 3.0 6.0 32.0 1.0 [38]
Arizona Arizona 39.0 21.0 5.0 1.0 6.0 27.0 <1.0 [39]
Hawaii Hawaii 38.0 20.0 3.0 2.0 10.0 26.0 1.0 [40]
New Mexico New Mexico 38.0 34.0 2.0 1.0 4.0 21.0 <1.0 [41]
Alaska Alaska 37.0 16.0 5.0 5.0 6.0 31.0 1.0 [42]
Idaho Idaho 37.0 10.0 19.0 1.0 4.0 27.0 <1.0 [43]
Maine Maine 37.0 21.0 2.0 1.0 7.0 31.0 2.0 [44]
Connecticut Connecticut 35.0 33.0 1.0 2.0 7.0 23.0 1.0 [45]
Nevada Nevada 35.0 25.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 28.0 1.0 [46]
California California 32.0 28.0 1.0 3.0 9.0 27.0 1.0 [47]
New Jersey New Jersey 31.0 34.0 1.0 2.0 14.0 18.0 1.0 [48]
New Hampshire New Hampshire 30.0 26.0 1.0 2.0 5.0 36.0 <1.0 [49]
Rhode Island Rhode Island 30.0 42.0 1.0 2.0 5.0 20.0 1.0 [50]
Vermont Vermont 30.0 22.0 <1.0 1.0 8.0 37.0 2.0 [51]
New York (state) New York 26.0 31.0 <1.0 2.0 12.0 27.0 1.0 [52]
Massachusetts Massachusetts 21.0 34.0 1.0 1.0 9.0 32.0 1.0 [53]
Utah Utah 13.0 5.0 55.0 <1.0 4.0 22.0 1.0 [54]

Religions by metropolitan areas[]

Religion in Major U.S metropolitan areas (2014)[55]
Metro area Christian (%) Evangelical (%) Mainline (%) Historically
black (%)		 Catholic (%) Mormon (%) Non-
Christian
faiths (%)		 None (%)
Dallas Dallas 78.0 38.0 14.0 7.0 15.0 1.0 4.0 18.0
Atlanta Atlanta 76.0 33.0 12.0 18.0 11.0 1.0 3.0 20.0
Houston Houston 73.0 30.0 11.0 9.0 19.0 1.0 4.0 20.0
Chicago Chicago 71.0 16.0 11.0 8.0 34.0 <1.0 7.0 22.0
Riverside, Calif. 71.0 30.0 10.0 3.0 22.0 3.0 4.0 25.0
Minneapolis Minneapolis 70.0 15.0 27.0 4.0 21.0 1.0 5.0 23.0
San Diego 68.0 14.0 16.0 2.0 32.0 2.0 5.0 27.0
Miami Miami 68.0 20.0 11.0 8.0 27.0 <1.0 10.0 21.0
Philadelphia Philadelphia 68.0 13.0 17.0 11.0 26.0 <1.0 8.0 24.0
Detroit 67.0 20.0 14.0 15.0 16.0 <1.0 8.0 24.0
Phoenix 66.0 25.0 11.0 1.0 21.0 6.0 7.0 26.0
Los Angeles Los Angeles 65.0 18.0 9.0 3.0 32.0 <1.0 9.0 25.0
Washington 65.0 14.0 15.0 12.0 19.0 1.0 10.0 24.0
New York City New York City 59.0 9.0 8.0 6.0 33.0 <1.0 16.0 24.0
Boston Boston 57.0 9.0 13.0 3.0 29.0 <1.0 10.0 33.0
Seattle 52.0 23.0 10.0 1.0 15.0 1.0 10.0 37.0
San Francisco San Francisco 48.0 10.0 6.0 4.0 25.0 1.0 15.0 35.0

Attendance[]

Church or synagogue attendance by state in 2009
  ≥50% attending weekly
  45-49% attending weekly
  40-44% attending weekly
  35-39% attending weekly
  30-34% attending weekly
  25-29% attending weekly
  20-24% attending weekly
  15-19% attending weekly

In a 2009 Gallup International survey, 41.6% of American citizens said that they attended church or synagogue once a week or almost every week. This percentage is higher than other surveyed Western countries.[56][57] In answering, "Is religion important in your daily life," the Gallup organization reported a U.S. response of 65% reporting yes, compared to the United Kingdom with a 27% affirmative response.[1] Church attendance varies considerably by state and region. The figures ranged from 63% in Mississippi to 23% in Vermont. The most religious region of the United States is American Samoa (99.3% religious).[58]

Gallup measure of religiosity by country in 2009[1]
Country Religiosity
Philippines Very High
South Africa High
United States Medium High
Italy Medium
Canada Medium Low
Germany Low
Australia Low
France Low
United Kingdom Low
Hong Kong Low
Japan Low
Sweden Very Low

A 2013 survey reported that 31% of Americans attend religious services at least weekly. It was conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute with a margin of error of 2.5.[2] In 2006, a world-wide online Harris Poll surveyed 2,010 U.S. adults[59] and found that 26% of those surveyed attended religious services "every week or more often", 9% went "once or twice a month", 21% went "a few times a year", 3% went "once a year", 22% went "less than once a year", and 18% never attend religious services. A 2013 Harris Poll reported an 8% decline in a belief in God, since a prior 2009 poll.[3]

According to a 2011 Gallup poll, the state with the greatest percentage of respondents identifying as "very religious" was Mississippi (59%), and the state with the smallest percentage were Vermont and New Hampshire (23%), while Florida (39%) and Minnesota (40%) were near the median.[60] A 2014 Pew Research poll found that the states with the greatest percentage of respondents who stated that religion was "very important" or "somewhat important" to their lives were Alabama (90%) and Louisiana (90%), which the state with smallest percentage was Vermont (57%).[61]

U.S. states and Washington, D.C.[]

Percentage of respondents in the USA stating that religion is "very important" or "somewhat important" to their lives, 2014[61]
Weekly church attendance by state (Pew)[62]
Rank State Percent
1  Utah 53%
2  Alabama 51%
2  Tennessee 51%
4  Mississippi 49%
5  South Carolina 47%
6  Louisiana 46%
6  West Virginia 46%
8  Virginia 44%
9  Oklahoma 43%
10  Georgia 42%
10  Texas 42%
12  Arkansas 41%
13  North Carolina 39%
13  Kentucky 39%
13  Nebraska 39%
16  Ohio 38%
16  Wyoming 38%
18  Missouri 37%
18  Kansas 37%
18  Indiana 37%
21  South Dakota 36%
21  New Mexico 36%
21  Iowa 36%
21  Rhode Island 36%
25  New Jersey 35%
25  Florida 35%
25  Idaho 35%
28  Arizona 34%
28  Pennsylvania 34%
28  Delaware 34%
28  Illinois 34%
28  Minnesota 34%
33  Michigan 33%
33  North Dakota 33%
35  Maryland 31%
35  California 31%
35  Nevada 31%
35  Montana 31%
39  Colorado 30%
39  Alaska 30%
39  Washington 30%
42  Oregon 29%
42  New York 29%
44  District of Columbia 28%
44  Hawaii 28%
44  Connecticut 28%
47  Wisconsin 27%
48  Massachusetts 23%
49  Maine 22%
49  New Hampshire 22%
51  Vermont 21%
Weekly church attendance by state (Gallup)[63]
Rank State Percent
1  Utah 51%
2  Mississippi 47%
3  Alabama 46%
4  Louisiana 46%
5  Arkansas 45%
6  South Carolina 42%
7  Tennessee 42%
8  Kentucky 41%
9  North Carolina 40%
10  Georgia 39%
11  Texas 39%
12  Oklahoma 39%
13  New Mexico 36%
14  Nebraska 35%
15  Indiana 35%
16  Virginia 35%
17  Delaware 35%
18  Missouri 35%
19  Idaho 34%
20  West Virginia 34%
21  Arizona 33%
22  Kansas 33%
23  Michigan 32%
24  Ohio 32%
25  Illinois 32%
26  North Dakota 32%
27  Pennsylvania 32%
28  Iowa 32%
29  Florida 32%
30  Maryland 31%
31  South Dakota 31%
32  Minnesota 31%
33  New Jersey 30%
34  Wisconsin 29%
35  Rhode Island 28%
36  Wyoming 28%
37  California 28%
38  New York 27%
39  Nevada 27%
40  Montana 27%
41  Alaska 26%
42  Connecticut 25%
43  Colorado 25%
44  Hawaii 25%
45  Oregon 24%
46  Washington 24%
47  District of Columbia 23%
48  Massachusetts 22%
49  Maine 20%
50  New Hampshire 20%
51  Vermont 17%

The table below displays the results of a 2017 survey by Pew Research:[64]

State
or District 		Overall Religiosity Rank Believe in God with Certainty Consider Religion Important Pray Daily Attend Weekly Worship Services
 California 35 54% 47% 51% 31%
 Texas 11 69% 63% 63% 42%
 Florida 22 64% 53% 56% 35%
 New York 43 56% 45% 48% 29%
 Illinois 33 61% 50% 51% 34%
 Pennsylvania 27 61% 51% 54% 34%
 Ohio 17 67% 56% 57% 38%
 Georgia 8 74% 64% 64% 42%
 Michigan 27 63% 50% 53% 33%
 North Carolina 10 73% 62% 66% 39%
 New Jersey 19 60% 50% 53% 35%
 Virginia 14 67% 60% 60% 44%
 Washington 44 55% 44% 46% 30%
 Massachusetts 50 40% 33% 37% 23%
 Arizona 27 62% 51% 55% 34%
 Indiana 22 63% 53% 52% 37%
 Tennessee 3 78% 71% 70% 51%
 Missouri 15 70% 56% 59% 37%
 Maryland 22 64% 50% 51% 31%
 Wisconsin 44 56% 44% 46% 27%
 Minnesota 35 56% 46% 47% 34%
 Colorado 41 55% 47% 50% 30%
 South Carolina 5 74% 69% 66% 47%
 Alabama 1 82% 77% 73% 51%
 Louisiana 4 75% 71% 68% 46%
 Kentucky 13 75% 63% 63% 39%
 Oregon 39 57% 45% 45% 29%
 Oklahoma 8 71% 64% 65% 43%
 Connecticut 47 54% 42% 47% 28%
 Iowa 19 66% 53% 50% 36%
 Mississippi 1 82% 74% 75% 49%
 Arkansas 5 77% 70% 65% 41%
 Utah 11 61% 58% 61% 53%
 Kansas 19 66% 50% 53% 37%
 Nevada 35 59% 44% 48% 31%
 New Mexico 18 63% 59% 55% 36%
 Nebraska 22 66% 54% 52% 39%
 West Virginia 7 77% 64% 68% 46%
 Idaho 33 62% 51% 50% 35%
 Hawaii 41 62% 44% 52% 28%
 Maine 48 48% 34% 35% 22%
 New Hampshire 50 43% 33% 36% 22%
 Rhode Island 35 60% 48% 48% 36%
 Montana 39 64% 44% 51% 31%
 Delaware 32 61% 46% 49% 34%
 South Dakota 16 69% 57% 56% 36%
 Alaska 44 55% 41% 49% 30%
 North Dakota 27 64% 53% 51% 33%
 District of Columbia 27 55% 50% 51% 28%
 Vermont 48 41% 32% 33% 21%
 Wyoming 22 66% 49% 53% 38%

U.S. territories[]

The following is the percentage of Christians and all religions in the U.S. territories as of 2015 (according to the ARDA):[65]

Note that CIA World Factbook data differs from the data below. For example, the CIA World Factbook says that 99.3% of the population in American Samoa is religious.[66]

Territory Percent religious
(all religions)		 Percent
Christian		 Percent religious
(non-Christian)		 Percent
non-religious		 Unknown /
Unspecified
 American Samoa 98.5% 97.37% 1.13% 0.88% 0.62%
 Guam 95.4% 91.1% 4.3% 1.8% 2.8%
 Northern Mariana Islands 98.85% 81.13% 17.72% 1.11% 0.04%
 Puerto Rico 91.53% 91.2% 0.33% 3.16% 5.31%
 US Virgin Islands 83.3% 81.83% 1.47% 4.04% 12.66%

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Truss, Catherine; Alfes, Kerstin; Delbridge, Rick; Shantz, Amanda; Routledge, Emma Soane (October 2013), "Employee engagement across cultures", Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice, Business & Economics, p. 336
  2. ^ a b Kaleem, Jaweed (May 20, 2014). "Americans Exaggerate How Much They Go To Religious Services, According To Study". Religion. The Huffington Pos. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  3. ^ a b Willett, Megan (December 17, 2013). "A Fascinating New Poll Shows That Americans Are Losing Faith In God". Business Insider Inc. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  4. ^ "Adults in Alabama". Pew Research Center.
  5. ^ "Adults in Mississippi". Pew Research Center.
  6. ^ "Adults in Tennessee". Pew Research Center.
  7. ^ "Adults in Arkansas". Pew Research Center.
  8. ^ "Adults in West Virginia". Pew Research Center.
  9. ^ "Adults in Oklahoma". Pew Research Center.
  10. ^ "Adults in Georgia". Pew Research Center.
  11. ^ "Adults in North Carolina". Pew Research Center.
  12. ^ "Adults in South Carolina". Pew Research Center.
  13. ^ "Adults in Kentucky". Pew Research Center.
  14. ^ "Adults in Iowa". Pew Research Center.
  15. ^ "Adults in Missouri". Pew Research Center.
  16. ^ "Adults in Virginia". Pew Research Center.
  17. ^ "Adults in Kansas". Pew Research Center.
  18. ^ "Adults in Louisiana". Pew Research Center.
  19. ^ "Adults in South Dakota". Pew Research Center.
  20. ^ "Adults in Ohio". Pew Research Center.
  21. ^ "Adults in Indiana". Pew Research Center.
  22. ^ "Adults in Maryland". Pew Research Center.
  23. ^ "Adults in Michigan". Pew Research Center.
  24. ^ "Adults in Nebraska". Pew Research Center.
  25. ^ a b "Adults in North Dakota". Pew Research Center.
  26. ^ "Adults in Texas". Pew Research Center.
  27. ^ "Adults in Pennsylvania". Pew Research Center.
  28. ^ "America's Changing Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life. May 12, 2015.
  29. ^ "Adults in Delaware". Pew Research Center.
  30. ^ "Adults in Florida". Pew Research Center.
  31. ^ "Adults in Wisconsin". Pew Research Center.
  32. ^ "Adults in Colorado". Pew Research Center.
  33. ^ "Adults in Illinois". Pew Research Center.
  34. ^ "Adults in Oregon". Pew Research Center.
  35. ^ "Adults in Wyoming". Pew Research Center.
  36. ^ "Adults in Montana". Pew Research Center.
  37. ^ "Adults in the District of Columbia". Pew Research Center.
  38. ^ "Adults in Washington". Pew Research Center.
  39. ^ "Adults in Arizona". Pew Research Center.
  40. ^ "Adults in Hawaii". Pew Research Center.
  41. ^ "Adults in New Mexico". Pew Research Center.
  42. ^ "Adults in Alaska". Pew Research Center.
  43. ^ "Adults in Idaho". Pew Research Center.
  44. ^ "Adults in Maine". Pew Research Center.
  45. ^ "Adults in Connecticut". Pew Research Center.
  46. ^ "Adults in Nevada". Pew Research Center.
  47. ^ "Adults in California". Pew Research Center.
  48. ^ "Adults in New Jersey". Pew Research Center.
  49. ^ "Adults in New Hampshire". Pew Research Center.
  50. ^ "Adults in Rhode Island". Pew Research Center.
  51. ^ "Adults in Vermont". Pew Research Center.
  52. ^ "Adults in New York". Pew Research Center.
  53. ^ "Adults in Massachusetts". Pew Research Center.
  54. ^ "Adults in Utah". Pew Research Center.
  55. ^ Major U.S. metropolitan areas differ in their religious profiles, Pew Research Center
  56. ^ "'One in 10' attends church weekly". BBC News. April 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  57. ^ Public Affairs (February 28, 2004). "NCLS releases latest estimates of church attendance". Media release. National Church Life Survey. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  58. ^ CIA World Factbook. American Samoa. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  59. ^ "Religious Views and Beliefs Vary Greatly by Country, According to the Latest Financial Times/Harris Poll". Harrisinteractive.com. 2006-12-20. Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
  60. ^ Newport, Frank (27 March 2012). "Mississippi Is Most Religious U.S. State Vermont and New Hampshire are the least religious states". gallup.com/poll. Gallup. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  61. ^ a b Importance of religion by state Pew forum
  62. ^ "How religious is your state?". pewforum.org. February 29, 2016.
  63. ^ "Frequent Church Attendance Highest in Utah, Lowest in Vermont". Gallup.com. February 17, 2015.
  64. ^ "Most and least religious U.S. States".
  65. ^ http://thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_5_2.asp
    http://thearda.com/internationalData/compare2.asp?c=97
    http://thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_169_2.asp
    http://thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_182_2.asp
    http://thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_240_2.asp
    thearda.com. The ARDA (Association of Religion Data Archives). American Samoa / Guam / Northern Mariana Islands / Puerto Rico / Virgin Islands (U.S.) Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  66. ^ https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/american-samoa/ CIA World Factbook. American Samoa. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
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