Faith Demographics

At COTTonLINE we’re fascinated by demographics, as regular readers know well. Here comes a new batch dealing with religion, from CNSNews.com. The article summarizes key findings from various recent Gallup and Pew Research Center surveys:

“About half of Americans (48 percent) identify as Protestants or other Christians who are not Catholic or Mormon,” said Gallup in its analysis of its polling.

From 2007 to 2014, Protestants had dropped from 51.3 percent of the population to 46.5 percent. At the same time, according to that Pew survey, Catholics dropped from 23.9 percent of the population to 20.8 percent.

In Alabama, according to the newly released Gallup data for 2017, 77 percent said they were Protestant, making Alabama the most Protestant state in the country.

In Rhode Island, 44 percent said they are Catholic, making Rhode Island the most Catholic state in the country.

In Hawaii and Alaska, 33 percent said they had no religion, making them the most non-religious states.

In New York, 8 percent said they were Jewish, making New York the most Jewish state.

In Utah, 55 percent said they were Mormons, making Utah the most Mormon state.

My state of Wyoming ties for number 3 (with Nevada) for “most Mormons,” after Utah and Idaho. Particularly in western Wyoming where I live, a near-majority of the year-round residents are Mormon and they’re great neighbors.

California has an interesting distinction, appearing on the following lists:

Ten Most Catholic States
Nine States With Highest Percentage Claiming “No Religion”
Eight Most Jewish States

CA doesn’t make the lists for Most Protestants and Most Mormons.