Interactive Map Showing Religious Make-Up of Every State

[AnnInLa]

http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm

(via Digby)

[Lurking Dem]

1. Heh.

Less than .5% Jewish in my state. No wonder I feel out numbered!

[madfloridian]

2. In case anything thought I was exaggerating...

about the Baptists in the South. Take a look.

Good map, thanks for sharing.

[seabeyond]

70. ist that the truth. surprisingly texas is showing more catholics,significantly

would be nice to have a breakdown of the panhandle compared to the rest of the state. i think i married and made friends with the only three catholics, cause all others seem to be baptist to me.

[mcscajun]

3. Hmmmm...just curious. Where were Alaska and Hawaii shown?

All I saw on this was the mainland states.

Interesting percentages on "No Religion", too. :)

[AnnInLa]

17. Dem's don't have a problem attracting the Religious, the Republics

have a problem bigger problem attracting the seculars, non-religious. Digby notes this:

"Lots of ink has been spilled about how Democrats and liberals suffer from a "religion problem" -- a perceived hostility towards Christianity and religion in general. But Pew Research Center exit poll data from the 2006 midterm elections shows the opposite."

snip


"In short, Republicans failed to be competitive among secular voters, while Democrats were at least competitive among regular churchgoers. And since the secular vote is roughly equal to the regular churchgoing vote, according to the last several national election exit polls, that means Republicans and their conservative base have a far bigger secular problem than their rivals have a religion problem."

And look at this:

"Since 1991, the adult population in the United States has grown by 15%. During that same period the number of adults who do not attend church has nearly doubled, rising from 39 million to 75 million - a 92% increase!"

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/republican-partys-biggest-problem-by.html

[rocktivity]

63. Not enough electoral votes?

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[talkinghead]

4. I would have thought California was the least religious state

turns out it is Washington state.

[rodeodance]

7. thats cause so my RW'er keep talking of LLLLLLIBBBBBerVVVal CA.

[sakabatou]

13. I thought we are pretty damned purple

[EFerrari]

8. No way. We have alternating red and blue and purple areas

and remember, the Catholic Church more or less organized this joint after they enslaved the indigenous population.

I got in trouble in 4rth grade for putting a whipping post in my sugarcube replica of a mission.

[dkofos]

11. I guess the none believers left California to illegal aliens

and catholics (which seem to be the same)

[EFerrari]

15. Right. San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Monterrey

and Los Angeles were all ditched by our white Protestant founders to Maria.

:rofl:

[XemaSab]

55. Interesting that Catholic and Baptist are the only denominations

that are over 3% in California. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

5. I didn't know CA was that Catholic. And am surprised

about the low number of Pentacostals given that more or less started here in 1906 after the quake.

Great map! Thanks!

[dkofos]

14. What religion do you think most hispanics are?

[EFerrari]

16. I don't know most hispanics, only own family.

:hi:

What religion got here first to displace and disrupt the indigenous population?

:)

/ack

[Lost-in-FL]

46. I am hispanic...

and I am agnostic.

[rodeodance]

19. Most Hispanics/Mexicans are Catholic

[EFerrari]

22. Yes, because that group was the first in this region

to invade.

I guess the Pilgrims were too lazy to bring us Protestantism. :)

edited for accuracy. :)

[ellenfl]

23. yes, but look at the number of mexicans who have settled

in california from the beginning of settlement. i would think mexicans would mostly be catholic.

ellen fl

[EFerrari]

24. Um, those settlers would have been SPANISH. n/t

[ellenfl]

26. you think there are more spaniards in california than mexicans? eom

[EFerrari]

27. The Spanish were here before there was a Mexico,iirc.

:)

Are there now numerically more mixed blooded people here? Sure. But the dominant culture was the European imperialist one, and we still worship at their shrines apparently

[ellenfl]

29. i think the indigenous peoples might disagree with you

about the existence of mexico before the spanish arrived. and what about the french?

regardless, aren't spain and france principally catholic? they would, most likely, be the peoples who brought catholicism to mexico.

ellen fl

[EFerrari]

33. No, the many indigenous groups in California would not disagree with

me about that whole genocide. And what are you driving at? Is Catholicism bad because it's brown in California or because it may be sort of French?

Please enlighten me.

[ellenfl]

44. i'm am just opining that the abundance of

catholics in california may be the result of immigration by peoples from mexico, who probably got their religion from the spanish and french occupiers, who themselves were principally catholic. we know that no indigenous religions survived the occupation intact.

ellen fl

[EFerrari]

45. Immigration? Well, that and conquest. Remember, this

was Mexico before our first pre-emptive war.

Americans seem to have this strange idea that only white protestants are native to this country when that's just inside out.

[Leopolds Ghost]

61. Nation of Mexico predates Spanish conquest. Mexico is an Aztec name for the Aztec empire

Specifically the metropolitan portion of the Aztec empire, the valley of Mexico (another name for metropolitan Tenochtitlan) It is equivalent to calling the European Empire "Rome" after an alternate name for the metropolitan area of Latium.

Aztec is NOT an adjective for the Aztec empire, it is an ethnic
designation of the barbarian ruling class that conquered MEXICO
in the 1300s, just like "Manchu Dynasty" refers to the barbarian
Manchurian Emperors who came from the north to rule China.

The Aztec came from "Aztlan", roughly located in the American
Southwest, which is one reason MEXICANS feel a strong historic
connection to New Mexico and California, much stronger than US
cultural connections to the area.

The City of MEXICO (Tenochtitlan) is centered on the Zocalo, which is the central square of Tenochtitlan. The surrounding buildings were built with the stones of Montezuma's buildings, using the foundations of the pyramids that used to front the square.

The Aztec sculpture of the foundation stones of the pyramids is still visible at the corners of the Governor's Palace, as are the Aztec canal which still runs through the outskirts of the Zocalo, the Aztec markets of Tenochtitlan and other major (Aztec and Toltec-named) cities are still markets today, and the Aztec floating gardens at the edge of the old city are still a public park today.

[EFerrari]

65. Which is to say, that Mexico was not this Mexico, nor was it California. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

48. If you look at that map

Catholics are the majority in many states not just California. This has nothing to do with being MEXICAN.

There is also a big Filipino community in CA and they predominantly Catholic. Mexicans aren't the only Catholics in the US.

[XemaSab]

57. What percent of people in the US claim Irish blood?

I don't remember but it's HUGH! Italians are a bit rarer but they're mostly Catholic too.

[XemaSab]

59. Ancestry:

According to the 2000 census (http://www.census.gov/population/www/ancestry.html)

English: 24 million
Dutch: 4.5 million
Greek: 1 million
French: 8 million
German: 42 million
Irish: 30 million
Italian: 15 million
Norwegian: 4.5 million
Swedish: 4 million
Portuguese: 1 million
Scots-Irish: 4 million
Scottish: 4.5 million
Swiss: 1 million
Welsh: 2 million
Czech: .8 million
Slovak: .8 million
Hungarian: 1.4 million
Polish: 9 million
Russian: 2.6 million
Ukranian: .9 million
Yurpean: 2 million :eyes:

Then they break down Spanish/Hispanic 46 different ways :eyes:

Mexican: 14.4 million
Mexican American: 1.6 million
Mexicano: 1.8 million
Puerto Rican: 2.6 million
Dominican: 1 million
Cuban: 1 million
Hispanic: 2.4 million
Spanish: 2 million

Jamaican: .7 million
Haitian: .5 million

Then a lot of Middle Eastern origins

Iranian: .3 million
Lebanese: .4 million
Armenian: .4 million

African: 1.2 million

Asian Indian: 1.4 million

Chinese: 2.2 million
Filipino: 2.1 million
Japanese: 1.1 million
Korean: 1.1 million
Vietnamese: 1 million

Some variation of African American: about 25 million
Native American: about 8 million
White: 3.3 million
French Canadian: 2.3 million
American: 20 million

And the ever popular "no response": 53.7 million

Good times. :D

[Reverend_Smitty]

6. The highest percentage in my state is Catholic

at 37% percent and no religion followed closely behind at 15%. It's an interesting map

[rodeodance]

12. most states I clicked came up Cath around 25%

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

71. It's because of all the Irish, Italians, and Hispanics.

And yes, my family is very much Irish Catholic.

[Greyskye]

9. It's really facinating...

...to work your way across the country and see how the percentages shift. I was surprised by the relatively low numbers of "Christians" throughout most of the country, and the relatively high numbers - especially in the west - of "no religion".

Very interesting; thanks for posting!

[dsc]

47. Christian refers to Disciples of Christ

which is a relatively small denomination.

[Critters2]

54. Might include both them and Independent Christian nt

[Warpy]

10. Holy smokes! NM is more godless than Mass. is

No wonder I feel at home.

Also, looking at the percentages of Baptists in the south, no wonder I fled!

[BlooInBloo]

20. Or else the white map creators don't count Native American beliefs.

[EFerrari]

28. Bingo. This was a vast empty continent, remember? n/t

[Warpy]

43. That was the 3 % as "other."

I'm thinking that covered Navajo traditionals. Pueblo tribes and Apaches usually self identify as Catholic. As in Europe, the native religions have been blended with the Catholic to the extent it's difficult to tell what's what and where it came from.

[BlooInBloo]

52. Ah. Excellent idea of yours to ask the creators of the map. Cool that they got back to you.

[Breeze54]

32. lmao!

:)

[Marrah_G]

68. Not surprising at all

Mass is heavily Catholic and my guess in that the non-religious numbers here are widely former catholic as well. Growing up here most everyone I knew was Catholic.

[uppityperson]

18. Organized religion

[Alexander]

21. So, has anyone added these all up to see what nationwide "No Religion" % is?

I'd be curious.

[BlooInBloo]

25. How would adding them all up help?

[LiberalFighter]

36. You would need to have the raw numbers -- population of each state

to attempt a nationwide percentage

In the footnote it also states that "Statistics do not total 100% due to rounding and refusal rates."

Refusal rates may increase the percentage of the no religion.

[Lurking Dem]

30. I am very suprised by Colorado

given the Six Flags Over Jesus mega-churches they have springing up. State is damn near G-dless.

[Breeze54]

31. I find that difficult to believe about MA!

44% Catholic I can understand but I see lots of Synagoges, Protestant, Baptists etc. churches around here.

I suspect the 16% with 'no religion' just didn't find it necessary to answer or declare! ;)

[Erika]

34. You can see why S.D. is anti women's rights

"No religion" appears to be the highest in the western states?

[Breeze54]

35. It's odd that not many picked Evangelical in a lot of states!

:shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

38. Why is that odd? There aren't all that many of them... despite the hype.

[Breeze54]

41. Seems like there are a lot of them! Maybe it is hype.

:shrug:

[Alexander]

51. Most of those are Baptists.

Yes, you have the evangelists and televangelists all over the place, but at the end of the day most self-identify as Baptist.

[dkofos]

37. I belong in Washington state

Highest percentage of non religious people in the country.

[BlooInBloo]

39. Thank god for small favors.

[LiberalFighter]

40. Nationwide identification of those identifying with a religion

In 1990, ninety percent of the adult population identified with one or another religion group. In 2001, such identification has dropped to eighty-one percent.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

42. Lot's of us "godless" folks here in WA. Hallelujah!!

[Ediacara]

49. That's a little weird: two of the bluest and two of the reddest states have...

..."no religion" as the largest group (WA and OR, and ID and WY).

[helderheid]

50. Utah - 57% Mormon. Bush approval rating in Utah - 61%

[JackRiddler]

53. They don't even list the Orthodox except lumped under generic "Christian"

And they're the True Original Church. Just ask them.

I see no religion is BIG in every state, often bigger than all conservative Protestant varieties combined, including in places like Idaho.

And I bet 1/3 or 1/2 of Catholic just say it reflexively, since it's a religion by birth.

Can we finally have an openly agnostic politician? Please? It's the last taboo.

[rocktivity]

67. ANY religion based on the teachings and/or worship of Christ is Christian

As to which religion is the "most" or "truest" Christian, let God sort 'em out!

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[JackRiddler]

69. You are mistaken.

To the Eastern Orthodox, the only truly Christian churches are the supposed historical originals, i.e. theirs and the Catholic. The latter is subverted by an illegitimate papal hierarchy. Everyone else is simply mistaken.

To my eyes, almost none of the so-called Christian sects are based on the actual teachings of Christ as laid out in the NT.

[rocktivity]

72. I rest my case: Even YOU said, "TO the Eastern Orthodox"

Who's to say they're right? Who's to say that ANY religion is "right?" That's why I use the term more generically, and say to let God sort 'em out!

:headbang:
rocknation

[ProudDad]

56. I'm from California

and I'm a recovering Catholic.

I've seen the light and am now an Atheist...

I'm in good company, the 2nd largest group -- 19% - No Religion!

Woo Hoo!!!!

[Quixote1818]

58. Wow! Wyoming's biggest Religion is non-believers at 20%.

Who would have guessed that? :shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

60. Damnit, when are these people going to figure out

that Alaska and Hawaii are states. We've been states for quite a long time now. Jesus...

[PassingFair]

62. Shows how severely under-reported "non-religious" individuals are...

...I STILL here people on TV flinging around the old 2% number!

Last survey in England had SIXTY-THREE percent admitting to being
non-believers, even when they "identified" as being "of" a certain
religion.

Thank you for the map.

Bookmarking!

[Catherine Vincent]

64. Hey, I didn't realize there are more Catholics in Texas than Baptists!

[seabeyond]

73. i have a post at beginning of thread stating the same surprise.

i think if you were to break down my area in the panhandle it would be a totally different switch. but then as i saw on someones posts... we have a lot of mexicans in our state and they tend to go exclusively and strongly with the catholic religion, so that could be a lot of the reason for the number i am sure.

[Blue Belle]

66. Oregon - 21% no religion....

Interesting...