MISSISSIPPI is the most religious state in the United States, according to Gallup.
The polling firm says Mississippi is one of eight states where at least half of the residents are ‘very religious.’
Vermont and New Hampshire are the least religious states, and are two of the five states – along with Maine, Massachusetts, and Alaska – where less than 30% of all residents are very religious, a news report said.
As many as 40% of Americans nationwide are very religious, Gallup said clarifying that the finding is based on their statement that religion is an important part of their daily life and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week.
Another 32% of Americans are nonreligious, based on their statement that religion is not an important part of their daily life and that they seldom or never attend religious services.
The remaining 28% of Americans are moderately religious, because they say religion is important but that they do not attend services regularly or because they say religion is not important but still attend services.
There is a wide disparity across US states and regions when it comes to religiosity. Mississippi in the South and Vermont in New England provide the most extreme example of the disparity.
Fifty-nine percent of Mississippians are very religious and 11% nonreligious, while 23% of Vermonters are very religious and 58% are nonreligious.
Interestingly, eight of the 10 most religious states in 2011 are in the South. They are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia besides Oklahoma (straddling the line between the South and the Midwest and Utah in the West. None of the most religious states are in the Middle Atlantic, New England, or West Coast regions, Gallup said.
