text: Mississippi, Alabama and other Southern states are among the most highly religious states in the nation, while New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine in New England are among the least devout, according to some of the key measures used to determine levels of religiosity in the Pew Research Center’s most recent Religious Landscape Study. 
   
   To begin, select a state to see where it ranks in terms of overall religiosity. In exploring the interactive it is important to keep in mind that differences between two states may not always be statistically significant due to the margins of error that are inherent in this survey data. 
   
   There are many potential ways of defining what it means to be religious, but for the purposes of this analysis, we looked at four common measures of religious observance: worship attendance, prayer frequency, belief in God and the self-described importance of religion in one’s life. The interactive tool above allows you to rank the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia by each of these measures – and by the percentage of adults in each state who are “highly religious” overall. 
   
   What does it mean to be “highly religious”? In our analysis, this includes any adult who reports at least two of four highly observant behaviors – attending religious services at least weekly, praying at least daily, believing in God with absolute certainty and saying that religion is very important to them — while not reporting a low level of religious observance in any of these areas, such as seldom or never attending religious services, seldom or never praying, not believing in God and saying that religion is “not too” or “not at all” important in their life. We also define a person as “highly religious” if they report three highly religious behaviors and a low level of religiosity on a fourth measure. 
   
   In Alabama and Mississippi, 77% of residents are highly religious by this definition. In both states, for instance, 82% believe in God with absolute certainty. In addition, three-quarters of Mississippians say they pray at least once a day and 77% of Alabama residents say religion is very important in their lives. 
   
   Meanwhile, only about a third of people in New Hampshire (33%), Massachusetts (33%), Vermont (34%) and Maine (34%) qualify as highly religious by these criteria. Roughly one-in-five residents of these states report attending religious services at least weekly, and roughly half or fewer say they are certain of God’s existence. 
   
   Topics: Religion and Society, Religious Affiliation, Religious Beliefs and Practices ||||| Across America, states and regions differ in terms of their cultures, foods and accents. But one of the biggest distinguishing features is how religion impacts the people of each place. 
   
   While religion is widespread across the country, the share of adults for whom religion is extremely important to their lives varies greatly between states. In the most religious state, 77% of the population are highly religious compared with 33% in the least religious. 
   
   Christianity is by far the most common religion in the United States, with 70% of Americans identifying as Christian. To break it down further, 25% or Americans are evangelical, 21% are Catholic, 15% are mainline Protestant, and 6% are Protestant. States that are more evangelical tend to be more deeply religious overall. 
   
   Despite the high levels of Christianity, the fastest-growing religious affiliation is actually no religion at all. The percentage of adults who are religiously unaffiliated adults grew in every state except for one, and it was the fastest growing ideology in almost every state for which there was data. 
   
   24/7 Wall St. reviewed a 2014 Pew Research Center survey of all 50 states and their religious makeup. Using data from Pew, 24/7 Wall St. ranked states based on how highly religious their populations are. The study also determined the importance of religion residents’ lives, worship attendance, frequency of prayer, and the belief in God. 
   
   To identify the most and least religious states, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a 2014 Pew Research Center survey of all 50 states and their religious makeup. Using data from Pew, 24/7 Wall St. ranked states based on how highly religious their populations are. Religion’s importance in one’s life, worship attendance, frequency of prayer, and the belief in God were also used in the determination. Trends were determined by comparing the percentage of adherents to the religion in a previous survey conducted in 2007. Pew surveyed more than 35,000 Americans. 24/7 Wall st. reviewed median age and the percentage of residents 65 and over from the American Community Survey. 
   
   Click here to see the most religious states. 
   
   Click here to see the least religious states.
target: – Being able to freely turn to whatever higher power one chooses (or none at all) is one of the principles America was founded on, but in some states, residents take their religion more seriously than others. A Pew Research Center survey from 2014 was placed under the 24/7 Wall St. microscope to determine which states were most and least religious, and Mississippi took the No. 1 slot, while New Hampshire fell at the bottom. Christianity is the most common US religion (70% of Americans identify as such), but those who don't adhere to any religion are the fastest-growing segment, with the percentage of "religiously unaffiliated" adults increasing in all states except for one. See which states are most pious and which aren't as wrapped up in worship: