In a country that contains over 30,000 incorporated zones, a list of the most religious cities in America is truly an “elite” club, so to speak. Religion is an organized system of cultural beliefs, and world views, which relates a society to certain moral and spiritual values. Gallup, a research-based company, recently released its report on which U.S. cities are considered to be the most religious.
The breakdown
In the entire country, about 40% of all Americans consider themselves very religious, while 31% are classified as non-religious. Another 29% of Americans say that religion is an important part of their lives, but they do not often attend different religious ceremonies.
Photo Credit: Cory Stallworth
The survey involved about 245,000 adults from 189 metropolitan areas in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and revealed some interesting findings about the most religious cities in America.
Disparities
Generally speaking, the level of “religiousness” of most metropolitan areas was in accordance with the overall level of its state, though in some cases, the situation is different. For example, Utah is one of the most religious states in the country, but in its largest metropolitan area, Salt Lake City, the level of people who identified themselves as very religious is 47%, which is much less than in other cities from the state. Another example is Michigan where the overall level of religiousness is below average, but the Holland-Grand Haven metro area is one of the most religious in the country.
MSAs
To complete the analysis, Gallup surveyed the Metropolitan Statistic Areas (MSAs) as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Usually, multiple cities are in one MSA, and some MSAs cross state borders. The poll was based on 300 surveys from each MSA, and Gallup analyzed each sample from each MSA to ensure that it was a demographic representative of the respective MSA.
Religious diversity is also tied to the geographical factor. America is a very diverse nation, and people living in the South or in Utah are twice t0 three times more religious than those living in cities from the Northeast, the Northwest and other Western locations, Gallup said. But enough of us blabbing.
See the most religious cities in America:
