Saturday, February 20, 2010

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.

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