Connecticut is Most Religious State in New England

Connecticut is the most religious state New England, ranked number 38 in the nation, according to a new Gallup poll.  The other New England states are all in the bottom ten, according to the survey, which covered the year 2015. New Hampshire is the least religious state in the nation, with 20 percent of residents considering themselves to be “very religious,” 24 percent “moderately religious” and 55 percent “non-religious.”  Just ahead of New Hampshire at the bottom of the list, are Vermont (22 percent very religious), Maine (26 percent very religious) and Massachusetts (27 percent very religious).  Rhode Island is ranked 43, with 32 percent of residents considering themselves to be very religious.

Connecticut, the only New England state ranked higher than the bottom ten, broke down this way:  33 percent very religious, 28 percent moderately religious, and 39 percent non-religious.

In the annual survey, Mississippi (63 percent) has extended its eight-year streak as the most religious state, followed closely by neighboring Alabama (57 percent), according to Gallup.  Rounding out the top ten “very religious” states were Utah, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and Texas.

The state-by-state results are based on over 174,000 interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking in 2015, including more than 480 interviews in every state and more than 1,000 interviews in most states.  In Connecticut 1,919 interviews were conducted, according to Gallup.

Gallup classifies Americans into three religious groups based on their responses to a question measuring religious service attendance and how important religion is in their daily life. Very religious Americans are those who say religion is important to them and who attend services every week or almost every week. Nonreligious Americans are those for whom religion is not important and who seldom or never attend religious services. Moderately religious Americans meet just one of the criteria, either saying religion is important or that they attend services almost every week or more.

Nationwide, the percentage classified as very religious on the basis of their attendance and view on the importance of religion has stayed remarkably stable since the survey began seven years ago. In 2008, 41% of Americans were very religious, 29% moderately religious and 30% nonreligious. In 2015, those same percentages are almost identical: 40%, 29% and 31%, respectively.