Tracking Religious Affiliation, State by State

Public opinion polling has long shown the United States to be a very religious country. Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say religion is "very important" in their own lives, and another 26% say it is fairly important. But religious commitment and religious affiliation vary considerably across the U.S. states. For example, Gallup data show that Americans living in the West are generally less likely than people in other parts of the country to say religion is important in their lives.

A state-by-state analysis of religious affiliation confirms this tendency in western states, showing that Oregonians, Idahoans, and Washingtonians have especially high proportions of non-religious residents. The data also show Rhode Island has the highest proportion of Catholics of any state in the nation, and Utah has the greatest percentage of Mormons. Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi have the highest proportion of Protestants, and New York and New Jersey have the highest proportion of Jews.

This analysis includes Gallup data collected on religious preference from 2000 to 2004, a total of 62,744 interviews*. There are at least 200 interviews in every state except North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Delaware. In 22 of the states, there are at least 1,000 interviews, allowing for a high degree of confidence in the estimates. 

Religion by State

The United States is an overwhelmingly Christian nation. According to Gallup's yearly estimate on national religious preferences, more than 8 in 10 Americans say they are affiliated with a Christian religion. Some individual states exceed that level, and no state falls below 76% in attachment to Christianity. The aggregate data indicate that more than 9 in 10 residents of Mississippi, North Dakota, and Louisiana identify their beliefs as Christian. Only 8 of the 48 continental states have less than 80% of their residents identifying as Christian -- Massachusetts (79%), Washington (79%), New York (79%), Nevada (79%), Idaho (79%), Colorado (78%), California (76%), and Oregon (76%). 

Gallup data show that roughly half of all Americans identify as Protestants. The states with the greatest number of Protestants are generally found in the southern part of the country. In Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi, three in four residents are Protestant. (Note that these data do not include the growing proportion of Americans who say they are Christian but do not give any religious affiliation beyond that; a significant proportion of these Americans are probably Protestant in their beliefs.) Because of the extraordinarily high prevalence of Mormons in Utah, only about one in eight residents of that state are Protestant. 

U.S. States With Most Protestants

About one in four Americans are Catholic, which makes it the largest single religious denomination in the United States. The Gallup data reveal that northeastern states have the greatest proportion of Catholic residents. More than half of Rhode Island residents (52%) are Catholic, as are nearly half of those living in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The states that are the most Protestant tend to be the least Catholic.

U.S. States With Most Catholics

Roughly 2% of Americans are Mormon, and they reside overwhelmingly in the West. Two in three Utah residents are Mormon; Mormons settled Utah in the mid-19th century and the headquarters of the church is in Salt Lake City. The data suggest that one of every three Mormons in the United States lives in Utah. Idaho also has a rather large proportion of Mormons, as more than one in five Idahoans affiliate with that religion.

U.S. States With Most Mormons

About 2% of the U.S. population is Jewish. Several northeastern states -- including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, have Jewish populations above the national average. Though based on a small sample size, the data suggest that the District of Columbia has a higher proportion of Jewish residents than any U.S. state (about 10%). 

U.S. States With Most Jews

Gallup's long-term national trend on religious affiliation shows a growing proportion of Americans are saying they do not have a religious preference at all. In the last two national yearly averages, 1 in 10 Americans said they did not affiliate with any religion, or said they were atheist or agnostic. The greatest proportions of non-religious Americans are found in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington -- all western states. 

U.S. States With Most Non-Religious

The states with the lowest proportions of non-religious residents are Mississippi (4%), Louisiana (5%), North Dakota (5%), Tennessee (5%), Alabama (6%), South Carolina (6%), Oklahoma (6%), West Virginia (6%), and Texas (6%).

The following table presents the full religious profile of each of the 48 continental states (Gallup does not ordinarily interview in Hawaii and Alaska):

Religious Affiliation by State

*These results are based on telephone interviews with 62,744 randomly selected national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted in Gallup Polls between 2000 and 2004. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±1 percentage point.  Margins of sampling error for individual states range from ±10 percentage points in the District of Columbia to ±1 percentage point in California. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.