Church Attendance by State

A new study released by Gallup has found that self-professed church attendance levels by state did not change significantly between 2008 and 2009. Nine of the top 10 states in self-professed church attendance are in the South (the only non-Southern state is Utah). States at the bottom of the church attendance list are in either New England or the West.

Respondents were asked how often they "attend church, synagogue or mosque — at least once a week, almost every week, about once a month, seldom or never." Nationally, 41.6 percent of all Americans in 2009 said they attended either "at least once a week" or "almost every week."

Top 10 States	% Attending weekly or almost every week		Bottom 11 States	% Attending weekly or almost every week
Mississippi	63		Vermont	23
Alabama	58		New Hampshire	26
S. Carolina	56		Maine	27
Louisiana	56		Massachusetts	29
Utah	56		Nevada	30
Tennessee	54		Hawaii	31
Arkansas	53		Oregon	31
N. Carolina	53		Alaska	31
Georgia	51		Washington	32
Texas	50		Rhode Island	32
			Connecticut	32

One explanation Gallup suggests is that states are characteristically different, which often includes religious identity and behavior. Southern states have high proportions of residents who identify as Protestant, non-Catholic Christians — faith traditions with high average church attendance levels. Residents of New England, the Northwest and other Western states are more likely to have no religious identity, usually associated with low church attendance.

The majority of Utah residents are Mormons, who have the highest average church attendance level of any major religious group in the country. Black Americans have the highest church attendance averages of any major racial or ethnic group.

The survey was based on telephone interviews with 353,849 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted across all 50 states and the District of Columbia during 2009 as part of Gallup Daily tracking. Click here to review the entire report.