Slightly more than half of Utah residents say they attend religious services every week, more than any other state in the U.S., according to a recent Gallup poll.
Residents in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas are the next most likely to be frequent religious service attendees, with 45 percent to 47 percent reporting weekly attendance.
At the other end of the spectrum is Vermont, where only 17 percent of residents say they attend religious services every week.
Ten of the 12 states with the highest self-reported attendance are in the South, along with Utah and Oklahoma.
The strong religious culture in the South reflects a variety of factors, including history, cultural norms, and the fact that these states have high Protestant and black populations—both of which are above average in their self-reported religious service attendance.
Utah’s No. 1 position on the list is a direct result of that state’s 59 percent Mormon population, as Mormons have the highest religious service attendance of any major religious group in the U.S.
