Religion in the States

 Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.

Chip Rotolo, Benjamin Wormald, Bill Webster and Justine Coleman:

Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study was designed to paint a statistical portrait of religion in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The study finds that Mississippi is the most religious state, Vermont the least. 

Worship Attendance in the States

 Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.  

Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng at Axios:

Data: Household Pulse Survey; Note: Adults who say they never attend a service or attend less than once a year; Map: Alice Feng/Axios

Vermont (75%), New Hampshire (66%) and Maine (66%) have the highest share of adults who say they never or seldom attend church or religious services, compared to the national average of 49%, per a new Axios analysis of Household Pulse Survey data.

Why it matters: More than three-quarters of Americans say religion's role in public life is shrinking, per a recent Pew Research Center survey — the highest level since the group first started tracking such sentiment in 2001.Many Americans are unhappy about that, with about half of adults telling Pew both that "religion is losing influence and that this is a bad thing."
About 57% of adults say that religion has a positive impact on American life, per Pew.

The other side: Mississippi (32%), Alabama (36%) and Louisiana (37%) have the lowest share of adults who say they never or seldom attend services.

America's Health Rankings

America's Health Rankings analysis of America's Health Rankings composite measure, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, Accessed 2019.

• Healthiest State: Vermont: 0.850
• Least-healthy State: Mississippi: -1.005
• Definition: Weighted sum of the number of standard deviations each core measure is from the national average.

National Highlights:

• Since 2012, smoking decreased 24% from 21.2% to 16.1% of adults
• Since 2012, obesity increased 11% from 27.8% to 30.9% of adults
• Since 2003, air pollution decreased 36% from 13.2 to 8.4 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter
• Since peaking in 1993, violent crime decreased 50% from 758 to 381 offenses per 100,000 population
• Low birthweight increased 4% from 8.0% to 8.3% of live births in the past three years, and 19% since 1993
• Since 2012, diabetes increased 15% from 9.5% to 10.9% of adults
• In the past four years, frequent mental distress increased 13% from 11.0% to 12.4% of adults
• Since 1990, infant mortality decreased 43% from 10.2 to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births
• In the past two years, mental health providers increased 13% from 218.0 to 247.4 per 100,000 population
• Drug deaths increased 37% from 14.0 to 19.2 deaths per 100,000 population in the past three years, and 104% since 2007