Texas Not in Top 10 of Most Religious States

If you think Texas is more religious than most of the country, a new poll says you're wrong. That poll indicates the rest of the Bible-belt, including Mormon-heavy Utah out west, is ahead of the Lone Star State on a list of the country’s most religious states.

Texas isn't even in the Top Ten.

A recent Gallup Poll on Religion in America shows Mississippi is the most religious state in the country, with nearly 3 out of every 5 Mississippians identifying themselves as “very religious.”

Gallup says "very religious" indicates people who attend religious services regularly, and consider their faith to be an important part of their lives. By that criteria, the survey found a little less than half of Texans, 47 percent, are very religious.  Texas is in 11th place on this list, behind Mississippi, Utan, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Oklahoma.

At the other end of the scale the number of very religious residents drops below 25 percent in Vermont and New Hampshire, which were at the very bottom of the list.

It's worth observing that "religious fervor" appears to follow regional lines. Gallup says eight of the 10 most religious states are in the South.  None of the most religious states are in the Middle Atlantic, New England, or West Coast regions.

In fact, six of the least religious states are in New England. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Four are in the West, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington, with the District of Columbia and New York rounding out the list.

via Most and Least Religious States in America.

There's irony in the apparent fact that New England states which were, at one time, the spiritual centers of America's churches and Christian denominations, are now among its least religious.  Food for thought.

Here's a link to the full survey on the Gallup Poll website.

via Mississippi Is Most Religious U.S. State.

The conclusion seems obvious.  If you are "very religious", and want to live in a state filled with people who believe as you do, you won't find it in the Northeast or on the West Coast.  Most "very religious" people live here in fly-over country.