The Religious Regions of the U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Southwest and Southeast regions of the United States lived up to their reputation as the home of the nation's Bible Belt in 2017, producing nine of the nation's 11 most religious states. In contrast, the Pacific and New England regions have 10 of the 11 least religious states for the year.

Forty-five percent of Americans living in the Southwest and 43% in the Southeast are "very religious" -- a classification based on how important people say religion is to them and how often they attend religious services. They are the only two of the nation's eight regions with at least 40% of their residents classified as very religious. The percentage is below 30% in the Pacific and New England regions, while religiosity is in the 30s across the center of the country from the Rockies to the Mid-Atlantic.

	Very religious	Moderately religious	Not religious
	%	%	%
Southwest	45	31	23
Southeast	43	31	26
West Central	39	29	32
East Central	37	29	34
Rockies	35	27	38
Mid-Atlantic	33	30	36
Pacific	29	28	43
New England	26	26	48
GALLUP U.S. DAILY, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017

The regional results are based on 130,959 interviews conducted in Gallup's U.S. Daily survey in 2017. The data include more than 6,000 interviews in every region and at least 350 interviews in each state -- with more than 1,000 in most states.

Gallup classifies Americans into three categories:

• Very religious Americans say religion is important to them, and they attend religious services weekly or almost weekly.

• Moderately religious Americans either say religion is important to them, or they attend services almost weekly or more often.

• Nonreligious Americans say religion is not important to them, and they seldom or never attend services.

Nationally, the level of religiosity varies significantly by age, race, ethnicity and religious affiliation. Mormons are most likely to be very religious (73%), followed by Protestants (50%), Muslims (45%), Catholics (40%) and Jews (18%). Religiosity increases with age: Only 28% of those younger than 30 are very religious, compared with 47% of those aged 65 and older. Blacks (48%) are more likely than whites or Hispanics (36% each) to be very religious.

These factors -- especially differences in religious affiliation -- are major contributors to the large state-to-state differences in the percentage of Americans who are very religious. For example, people living in Mississippi are more than three times as likely to be classified as very religious as those living in Vermont -- 59% versus 16%. The full results for each state are available here.

The states within each of the eight regions of the United States as defined by Gallup generally are close to each other in religiosity levels, with a few outlier states. The most religious and least religious regions are particularly illustrative of the overall trends.

The Southwest and Southeast: The Most Religious Regions

These two regions are home to nine of the 11 most religious states in the union. Three of the four states in the Southwest region are among the 11 most religious (Louisiana fourth, Arkansas tied for fifth and Oklahoma tied for 10^th), and the other state, Texas, is 14^th.

	Very religious	Moderately religious	Not religious	Sample size
	%	%	%
Louisiana	52	31	17	1,800
Arkansas	50	30	19	1,398
Oklahoma	45	30	25	1,808
Texas	43	32	25	10,085
GALLUP U.S. DAILY, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017

The Southwest has the highest percentage of very religious Americans among the eight regions. The driving force behind the high percentage of Southwesterners who are very religious is the dominating presence of Protestants and other non-Mormon and non-Catholic Christians. They make up 59% of the population, and a majority of these (57%) are classified as very religious. At the same time, only 12% of those in the Southwest region are not religious, below the national average of 18%.

In the Southeast, six of the states in the region are among the 11 most religious in the U.S. Mississippi once again is the most religious state -- as it has been every year since 2008, when Gallup began compiling the annual rankings. Alabama is tied for the second-highest percentage of very religious residents; South Carolina is tied for fifth; Tennessee is seventh; North Carolina is tied for eighth; Kentucky is tied for 10^th; and Georgia is tied for 12^th. Two states on the region's edges are ranked lower -- Virginia is tied for 19^th on the national list, and Florida, tied for 30^th, is the only Southeast state in the bottom half nationally.

	Very religious	Moderately religious	Not religious	Sample size
	%	%	%
Mississippi	59	29	12	1,187
Alabama	54	29	17	2,144
South Carolina	50	30	20	2,022
Tennessee	49	30	22	2,930
North Carolina	46	31	23	4,093
Kentucky	45	30	26	1,788
Georgia	43	33	23	3,928
Virginia	38	30	31	3,513
Florida	35	32	33	7,982
GALLUP U.S. DAILY, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017

As in the Southwest, Protestants and other non-Mormon, non-Catholic Christians are the major factor behind the high percentage of very religious residents in the region. They make up a majority of the population in the Southeast (63%) and are more likely to be very religious (55%) than Protestants in every other region except the Southwest. Fourteen percent of residents in the Southeast are not religious.

The Pacific and New England: The Least Religious Regions

These two regions are collectively home to 10 of the 11 least religious states in the union. All of the five Pacific region states are among this group. In the New England region, five of the constituent states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont) are among the 11 least religious.

	Very religious	Moderately religious	Not religious	Sample size
	%	%	%
California	29	29	42	13,074
Alaska	28	25	47	407
Hawaii	28	27	44	541
Washington	28	26	47	3,367
Oregon	28	25	48	2,303
GALLUP U.S. DAILY, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017

There is only one point's difference among the Pacific region states in the percentage of residents who are very religious. The percentage who are not religious varies a little more -- from 48% in Oregon to 42% in California -- but in all five states, the percentage who are not religious outweighs the percentage very religious by double digits. Forty-three percent of residents in the Pacific are not religious, well above the national norm.

	Very religious	Moderately religious	Not religious	Sample size
	%	%	%
Rhode Island	32	29	39	428
Connecticut	29	29	42	1,428
Massachusetts	26	26	49	2,736
New Hampshire	23	26	51	588
Maine	22	22	55	672
Vermont	16	26	59	370
GALLUP U.S. DAILY, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017

New England is home to the four states least likely to have residents who are very religious -- Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Three of these (New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont) are the only U.S. states with majorities who are not religious.

Even in this region, Vermont stands out. It has had the lowest percentage of residents who are very religious every year but one since 2008, and this year's 16% reading is six points lower than that of any other state.

Bottom Line

Americans practice their religious beliefs at different levels of commitment and involvement, and these levels vary significantly across the nation's regions.

In the Southeast and Southwest, large percentages of Protestants, especially black Protestants, are very religious. All of the states in these regions are more religious than any of the states in New England and the Pacific, where residents remain the least religious in the nation.

While the percentage of all Americans who are very religious has shrunk over the past decade, the differences in religiousness between the regions have held firm, with no indication that these regional differences will change in the near future.