Mississippi Ranked Most Religious State in U.S.

Dec. 29, 2009— -- Folks in the warm southern states are the most God-fearing people in the country, while people in cold and flinty New England are least likely to believe in God or attend worship services.

Mississippi was named the most religious state in the country, ranking first in four categories: importance of religion; frequency of prayer; the attendance at worship services and the certainty of a belief in God.

Some 82 percent of Mississippians say religion "is very important in their lives," according to a recently released list compiled by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Mississippi was followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee to round out the top five states in which residents said religion was very important.

"Southern states tend to rank near the top of religious commitment," said Greg Smith, a senior researcher at Pew who compiled the list.

If southern climes make for fiery parishioners, the chill of New England and Alaska seems to have the reverse effect.

New Hampshire and Vermont tied for last place of states whose residents who believed religion was important. Less than 4 in 10 residents or 36 percent of residents said religion was very important.

On average, 56 percent of Americans said religion was very important to them.

Alaska, Massachusetts, Maine and a tie between Rhode Island and Connecticut round out the least religious states.

Southern states typically made up the top five in the other categories, excluding a list that ranked states by how often residents attended religious services.

"In most southern states, frequency of worship attendance meets or exceeds the national average," Pew found.