List of U.S. states by religiosity

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

Church or synagogue attendance by state in 2009.

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.[4][5] 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.

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

A 2013 survey reported that 31% 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[6] 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 2014 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.[7]

Percentage reporting "very religious" by US state in 2014
State
 Rank by
population
 Percentage
identifying
as "very religious"
[7]		 Rank by
percentage identifying as
"very religious"
 California 1 35% 31
 Texas 2 47% 11
 Florida 3 39% 26
 New York 4 32% 39
 Illinois 5 39% 27
 Pennsylvania 6 40% 24
 Ohio 7 39% 28
 Georgia 8 48% 9
 Michigan 9 37% 29
 North Carolina 10 50% 8
 New Jersey 11 34% 34
 Virginia 12 42% 20
 Washington 13 30% 42
 Massachusetts 14 28% 45
 Arizona 15 35% 32
 Indiana 16 45% 13
 Tennessee 17 52% 7
 Missouri 18 44% 16
 Maryland 19 28% 46
 Wisconsin 20 37% 30
 Minnesota 21 40% 25
 Colorado 22 33% 36
 Alabama 23 56% 3
 South Carolina 24 54% 4
 Louisiana 25 54% 5
 Kentucky 26 47% 12
 Oregon 27 30% 43
 Oklahoma 28 48% 10
 Connecticut 29 31% 41
 Iowa 30 41% 22
 Mississippi 31 59% 1
 Arkansas 32 54% 6
 Utah 33 57% 2
 Kansas 34 45% 14
 Nevada 35 30% 44
 New Mexico 36 41% 23
 Nebraska 37 44% 17
 West Virginia 38 43% 19
 Idaho 39 42% 21
 Hawaii 40 33% 37
 Maine 41 25% 48
 New Hampshire 42 23% 49
 Rhode Island 43 32% 40
 Montana 44 35% 33
 Delaware 45 33% 38
 South Dakota 46 45% 15
 Alaska 47 28% 47
  North Dakota 48 44% 18
 Vermont 49 22% 50
 Wyoming 50 34% 35

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. ↑ "'One in 10' attends church weekly". BBC News. April 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  5. ↑ Public Affairs (February 28, 2004). "NCLS releases latest estimates of church attendance". Media release. National Church Life Survey. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  6. ↑ "Religious Views and Beliefs Vary Greatly by Country, According to the Latest Financial Times/Harris Poll". Harrisinteractive.com. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
  7. 1 2 Newport, Frank. "Mississippi Is Most Religious U.S. State Vermont and New Hampshire are the least religious states". gallup.com/poll. Gallup. Retrieved 13 October 2014.

External links

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