Southern states remain the most religious in the U.S., according to a Gallup report released on April 6.
The southwest (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) was the most religious U.S. region in 2017, with 45 percent of survey respondents saying they are “very religious,” 31 percent saying they are “moderately religious” and 23 percent are “not religious.”
The southwest (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) was the most religious U.S. region in 2017. (Pixabay)Louisiana led the way with 52 percent “very religious” respondents, followed by Arkansas (50 percent), Oklahoma (45 percent) and Texas (43 percent).
The southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) was a close second, with 43 percent describing themselves as “very religious,” 31 percent as “moderately religious” and 26 percent “not religious.”
Mississippi had the highest percent of “very religious” respondents (59 percent), with Alabama (54 percent), South Carolina (50 percent), Tennessee (49 percent) and North Carolina (46 percent) rounding out the top five.
Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming were grouped into a region that Gallup labeled the Rockies for the purposes of their survey.
“Gallup classifies Americans into three categories,” the report explained. “Very religious Americans say religion is important to them, and they attend religious services weekly or almost weekly” and “moderately religious Americans either say religion is important to them, or they attend services almost weekly or more often,” while “nonreligious Americans say religion is not important to them, and they seldom or never attend services.”
New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) was the least religious region, with only 26 percent of respondents saying they are “very religious,” 26 percent describing themselves as “moderately religious” and 48 percent “not religious.”
Rhode Island was the most religious New England state, with 32 percent saying they are “very religious,” followed by Connecticut (29 percent), Massachusetts (26 percent), New Hampshire (23 percent), Maine (22 percent) and Vermont (16 percent).
“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,” Gallup summarized.
The full report is available here.
This article originally appeared on EthicsDaily.com.
