The Most—And Least—Religious States, Ranked

The freedom to practice religion in the United States is afforded by the Bill of Rights, but how religious an American wants to be is up to them.

Some states traditionally have more residents practicing faith than others, so the states that are the most religious may not be that surprising to you. On the other hand, which states are the least religious? That may be a little harder to guess.

A survey by Pew Research Center compared states on responses based on the importance of religion in respondents' lives, including factors such as religious attendance, frequency of prayer, and belief in god. Here are the states that ranked highest—and lowest—in those categories.

The Most Religious

1. Mississippi
2. South Carolina
3 (tie). South Dakota
3 (tie). Louisiana
5. Tennessee

Mississippi leads the nation as the most religious state, with 50% of its adults considered highly religious. That was far ahead of second-place South Carolina with 46%, and South Dakota and Louisiana, which were tied at 45%.

While state rankings for each individual category varied from topic to topic, Mississippi always came out in the number-one spot for importance of religion in respondents' lives, religious attendance, frequency of prayer, and belief in god.

One of the big factors is the nation's Bible Belt, which is mainly located in southern states. The area is defined by conservative Protestant values and Christian church attendance that is above the national average. The top 10 states in the Pew Research Center's survey includes multi-state ties, making a total of 13 states in that top 10. Of those 13 states, only four are not in the Bible Belt: Utah, Kansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Least Religious

1. Vermont
2. New Hampshire
3. Maine
4. District of Columbia
5. Nevada

While the South dominated the most religious states, the Northeast dominated the least religious states. In fact, New England states in general aren't as devout as the rest of their American counterparts, with Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ranking highly in the survey of least religious states.

The West Coast also had a significant place in the least religious states. Oregon was the sixth-least religious state, while California and Washington made the top 15 for least religious states. The West and Mountain West are examples of extremes of both sides. Utah came in sixth place of the most religious ranking, with 42% of adults considering themselves highly devout. On the other hand, next-door neighbor Nevada landed on the least religious list, with only 19% of its population coming as highly religious.

Religious Residents Are Regional

The region you live in can also have an effect on your level of faith, in addition to your state.

The South, for example, has the lowest percentage of people considering themselves “religiously unaffiliated,” including atheists, agnostics, and those who don't identify with a particular religious belief. Only 25% of Southerners put themselves in that category. Meanwhile, the West, including states like Oregon and Nevada, sees 35% of residents who consider themselves religiously unaffiliated.

Those percentages are in line with overall data from the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey, which found that overall, 62% of Americans consider themselves Christian, 7% consider themselves another religion, such as Jewish or Muslim, and 29% think of themselves as religiously unaffiliated.

More State-By-State Data: