Mississippi is the most religious state in the country, according to poll results recently released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The state comes in No. 1 across all categories evaluated: the importance of religion in the lives of residents, frequency of attendance at worship services, frequency of prayer and belief in God.
Southern states dominate the top spots in the Pew rankings. For example, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee join Mississippi in rounding out the top five states where most people surveyed said religion was important in their lives. Utah, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee follow Mississippi in the frequency of people attending worship services. At least 70 percent of the people in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee say they pray daily. Eighty percent or more of the people in 11 states — Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Utah and Oklahoma — say that have absolute certainty in the existence of God.
You can view a summary of Pew’s findings and the full rankings in the “How Religious Is Your State?” article.