Exploring America's Religious Landscape: A Map Of Faith And Secularism

The prevalence of religion and degrees of observance vary significantly across the U.S., and a new map showcases where each state sits on the spiritual to secular spectrum. Religious identity and practice exert significant sway over all aspects of American life, shaping values, community life, and the political landscape across the country. Understanding these variations offers a glimpse into the spiritual landscape of the nation, highlighting where religious beliefs are most strongly held.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, polling organizations, and several other sources, charity research firm SmileHub created a ranking for America's "most religious states," seen below on a map created by Newsweek. Among other things, the methodology incorporated per-capita religious adherents, the prevalence of religious education and career opportunities, as well as the number of faith-based organizations, resulting in an overall score for each state out of 100.

Topping the list as the most god-loving state is Alabama, with an overall score of 64.50. Located right in the heart of America's Bible Belt, the Yellowhammer state is comprised almost entirely of Christians—86 percent according to Pew Research Center—and religion remains a significant influence in Alabama's political landscape.

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring that frozen embryos could be considered "extrauterine children" under state law, with Chief Justice Tom Parker citing the Book of Genesis and Thomas Aquinas in his accompanying opinion. However, Alabama's position atop the list may be in jeopardy, as levels of religious observance appear to be waning in the state.

In May, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest denomination in Alabama, announced that its membership had fallen for the seventeenth consecutive year, dropping to 753,653 members in the state from nearly one million in 2016. In second place sits Virginia, with an overall score of 61.97.

As with Alabama, Baptist is the most popular denomination in the state, according to Pew, followed by Catholicism. The town of Fredericksburg was where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, signed into law by the Virginia Assembly in 1786, and considered one of the principal documents outlining the separation between church and state in the U.S. The rest of the top five includes Texas (61.44), Tennessee (58.95), and North Carolina (58.74).

On the other end of the list is Maine, by some length the least religious state with a score of 9.61 out of 100. In fact, all of the states in the New England region—Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont—sit in the bottom ten of SmileHub's religious rankings. The Baptist Churches of New England attribute the region's "crisis of faith" to its "academic bent" and left-leaning political tilt.

Pew Research estimates that by 2070, the unaffiliated portion of the U.S. could rise to as much as 52 percent of the population from the current 30 percent, and so New England may be ahead of the secular curve as Americans continue to abandon their faiths and join the growing ranks of those who consider themselves a-religious.

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