By Aaron Earls
More megachurches call California home than any other state, but in terms of the most megachurches per capita, the Golden State doesn’t even crack the top 15.
Instead, Tennessee tops the list, with 99,272 residents per megachurch, which the Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines as a Protestant congregation with a sustained average weekly attendance of 2,000 people or more in its worship services. Tennessee is the only state with a ratio under 100,000 to 1.
That may not be surprising since the Volunteer State is home to Chattanooga, the city classified as the most churched city and most Bible-minded city in America.
Using the Hartford Institute’s megachurch database and 2016 population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau, states can be ranked by the number of residents per megachurch.
The average ratio for a state is 196,789 residents per megachurch.
The top six are from the South: Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
Washington, which has the ninth most megachurches, has the seventh lowest ratio and is the highest ranked state outside the South.
Indiana, Maryland, and Missouri round out the top 10.
Toward the bottom are states that often lack the population to sustain numerous large churches, the needed religious climate, or both.
Utah is the only state with more than 1 million residents per megachurch. According to Pew, the state population is 55 percent Mormons and only 7 percent evangelicals. As a result, just three Protestant megachurches are located in Utah.
South Dakota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Wyoming, and West Virginia are also ranked at the bottom for megachurch ratio.
Comparing the rankings of states by the raw number of megachurches versus megachurches per capita reveals some significant differences.
In terms of raw numbers of megachurches, Hawaii ranked 34th. For megachurches per capita, the Aloha State was 15th—19 spots higher.
New York had the largest change from strictly numbers to per capita. The Empire State ranked 12th in raw numbers but only 40th in per capita.
Number of residents per megachurch in each state:
- Tennessee: 99,272
- Georgia: 113,301
- Oklahoma: 126,566
- Texas: 134,602
- Alabama: 135,092
- South Carolina: 141,746
- Washington: 145,760
- Indiana: 147,401
- Maryland: 162,607
- Missouri: 164,676
- Arkansas: 166,014
- Florida: 171,770
- North Carolina: 171,979
- Colorado: 173,142
- Hawaii: 178,570
- California: 179,224
- Arizona: 179,765
- Louisiana: 187,267
- Minnesota: 190,343
U.S. average: 196,789
- Virginia: 200,281
- Ohio: 207,400
- New Mexico: 208,101
- Nevada: 210,004
- Oregon: 215,446
- Kentucky: 221,849
- Illinois: 228,599
- Michigan: 242,154
- Mississippi: 249,061
- Nebraska: 272,445
- Idaho: 280,523
- Kansas: 290,729
- Iowa: 313,469
- Montana: 347,507
- New Jersey: 357,779
- Alaska: 370,947
- Pennsylvania: 376,007
- North Dakota: 378,976
- Wisconsin: 385,247
- Connecticut: 447,057
- New York: 481,592
- West Virginia: 610,367
- Wyoming: 624,594
- New Hampshire: 667,398
- Massachusetts: 851,472
- South Dakota: 865,454
- Utah: 1,017,072
Four states—Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont—have no megachurches and are not included in the rankings.
AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.
