Guide Rankings Religion Updated May 26, 2026

Least Religious States

Map of the United States shaded by the share of highly religious adults, with Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine among the lightest states

Least Religious States

Ranking - Religion

Quick Answer

Least Religious States

  1. 1

    Vermont is the least religious state in the U.S., with 13% of adults classified as highly religious in Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study. New Hampshire (15%) and Maine (17%) follow.

  2. 2

    The ranking uses Pew's overall religiousness scale, which combines four measures: daily prayer, belief in God or a universal spirit with absolute certainty, religion very important, and monthly religious service attendance. Adults scoring 7–8 out of 8 are classified as highly religious. Mississippi ranks as the most religious state at 50%.

Map

Least Religious States 2026: Highly Religious Adults (%) Map

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Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine anchor the low end of the ranking, while Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana sit at the high end.
Least Religious States 2026: Highly Religious Adults (%) Map
Rank State highly religious adults
1 Vermont 13
2 New Hampshire 15
3 Maine 17
4 Nevada 19
4 Oregon 19
6 Massachusetts 20
7 Hawaii 21
7 Iowa 21
9 Rhode Island 22
10 Connecticut 23
11 California 24
11 Colorado 24
13 New York 25
13 Washington 25
15 Alaska 26
15 Pennsylvania 26
17 Arizona 27
17 Maryland 27
17 Minnesota 27
17 Wisconsin 27
21 Ohio 28
22 Delaware 29
22 New Jersey 29
22 West Virginia 29
25 Florida 30
25 Michigan 30
25 Nebraska 30
28 Illinois 31
28 Wyoming 31
30 Missouri 33
30 Montana 33
32 New Mexico 34
33 Virginia 35
34 Indiana 36
34 Texas 36
36 Idaho 37
36 Kentucky 37
38 Georgia 38
38 Kansas 38
38 North Dakota 38
38 Oklahoma 38
42 Alabama 40
42 Arkansas 40
44 North Carolina 41
45 Utah 42
46 Tennessee 44
47 Louisiana 45
47 South Dakota 45
49 South Carolina 46
50 Mississippi 50

Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine anchor the low end of the ranking, while Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana sit at the high end.

All States Ranked by Highly Religious Adults (%)

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Print-ready table — Least Religious States

Vermont and New Hampshire Tie on the Lowest religion_important Rate

Vermont (13%) and New Hampshire (15%) both score 16% on religion_important, the lowest of any two states on that sub-measure. Vermont's pray_daily rate (22%) and believe_in_god rate (30%) are both the lowest nationally. New Hampshire's believe_in_god rate (33%) is the second lowest nationally.

Maine (17%) ranks third least religious but has a higher pray_daily rate (32%) than Vermont (22%) and New Hampshire (25%), and a higher believe_in_god rate (38%) versus New Hampshire's (33%). Maine's overall score is 4 points above Vermont's despite both states ranking in the bottom 3.

Nevada and Oregon Tie at 19% With a 12-Point Gap on pray_daily

Nevada (19%) and Oregon (19%) tie for fourth least religious. Nevada's pray_daily rate (41%) is 12 points above Oregon's (29%), the largest pray_daily divergence between any two tied states in the ranking. On attend_services and religion_important, the two states score identically at 20% each.

Nevada's believe_in_god rate (48%) is also 7 points above Oregon's (41%). Oregon equals Nevada only on attend_services at 20% each. Nevada scores higher on three of four sub-measures despite the identical overall score.

Iowa and Hawaii Tie at 21% With Different Sub-Score Profiles

Iowa (21%) and Hawaii (21%) tie for seventh least religious but have different sub-score profiles. Iowa's attend_services rate (30%) is 11 points above Hawaii's (19%). Hawaii's believe_in_god rate (48%) is one point above Iowa's (47%), and Hawaii's pray_daily (34%) exceeds Iowa's (31%) by 3 points.

Quick Answers

What is the least religious state in the U.S.?
Vermont is the least religious state, with 13% of adults classified as highly religious in Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study. New Hampshire (15%) and Maine (17%) rank second and third.
What is the most religious state in the U.S.?
Mississippi is the most religious state, with 50% of adults classified as highly religious in Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study.
How does Pew Research measure religiousness by state?
Pew uses four measures: whether adults pray daily, believe in God or a universal spirit with absolute certainty, consider religion very important in their lives, and attend religious services at least monthly. Each measure scores 0–2 points; adults scoring 7–8 out of 8 are classified as highly religious. The 2023–24 study surveyed 36,908 U.S. adults.
Which region has the least religious states?
New England has the highest concentration of least religious states. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut all rank in the bottom 10 most highly religious states, based on Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study.

Methodology

States ranked by the percentage of adults classified as highly religious in Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study (n=36,908, conducted July 17, 2023–March 4, 2024). Highly religious = scoring 7–8 out of 8 across four measures: daily prayer, certainty of belief in God or a universal spirit, religion very important in daily life, and attending religious services at least monthly. Pew notes that differences between some individual states may not be statistically significant given state-level margins of error.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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