Methodist - Rankings by Area (States) [Counties] [Metro-Areas]
The Methodist-Pietist family consists of churches that stress the importance of internal faith, spirituality, and Christian living over adherence to formal creeds and doctrine. The largest among these churches is the United Methodist Church, which follows the teachings of John Wesley, who in the 18th century broke away from the Church of England because of his emphasis on personal holiness. Other Methodist churches include the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. [View our Methodist Family profile]
Using data from the 1980-2020 U.S. Religion Census, this list ranks U.S. States on the highest percent of the population that are in the Methodist family. You can sort the list by clicking on the column headings.
Rank 2020 |
Rank 2010 |
Rank 2000 |
Rank 1990 |
Rank 1980 |
State | Percent 2020 |
Percent 2010 |
Percent 2000 |
Percent 1990 |
Percent 1980 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | North Carolina | 7.23 | 8.58 | 7.97 | 13.89 | 15.77 |
4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 2 | Alabama | 6.93 | 8.46 | 7.39 | 12.19 | 13.84 |
2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | Mississippi | 7.34 | 9 | 8.46 | 9.83 | 12.31 |
1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 4 | South Carolina | 7.41 | 9.19 | 7.54 | 10.73 | 12.05 |
9 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 5 | Tennessee | 5.81 | 6.88 | 6.98 | 8.61 | 11.54 |
7 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 | West Virginia | 6.4 | 7.59 | 8.37 | 10.34 | 11.36 |
8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | Kansas | 6.1 | 7.9 | 8.02 | 9.76 | 11.25 |
10 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | Iowa | 5.59 | 8.52 | 9.02 | 10.1 | 11.15 |
11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 9 | Arkansas | 5.51 | 6.88 | 6.73 | 8.64 | 11.07 |
5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | Oklahoma | 6.81 | 9.08 | 9.51 | 10.45 | 10.69 |
6 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 11 | Georgia | 6.56 | 8.07 | 6.98 | 8.32 | 10.65 |
19 | 24 | 30 | 10 | 12 | District Of Columbia | 3.64 | 3.62 | 2.68 | 9.53 | 10.58 |
14 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 13 | Nebraska | 4.93 | 6.95 | 7.76 | 9.75 | 10.42 |
15 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 14 | Delaware | 4.87 | 7.21 | 7.68 | 9.34 | 10.24 |
12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | Virginia | 5.17 | 6.24 | 6.67 | 8.48 | 10.09 |
13 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | Maryland | 5.04 | 5.93 | 5.66 | 6.88 | 7.93 |
20 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 17 | Indiana | 3.61 | 6.07 | 4.88 | 6.75 | 7.71 |
23 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | Ohio | 3.26 | 4.74 | 5.06 | 6.47 | 7.48 |
17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 19 | Pennsylvania | 3.82 | 5.35 | 5.53 | 6.78 | 7.3 |
16 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | Kentucky | 4.28 | 4.78 | 5.19 | 6.69 | 7.3 |
21 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 21 | Texas | 3.53 | 4.52 | 4.95 | 5.97 | 7.19 |
24 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 22 | South Dakota | 2.94 | 4.91 | 5.32 | 6.42 | 6.85 |
18 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | Missouri | 3.71 | 4.38 | 4.19 | 5.19 | 5.78 |
25 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 24 | Florida | 2.4 | 3.22 | 2.92 | 3.67 | 5.54 |
31 | 31 | 27 | 24 | 25 | Vermont | 1.51 | 2.46 | 3.24 | 4.44 | 5.23 |
26 | 28 | 26 | 26 | 26 | Illinois | 2.27 | 3.09 | 3.32 | 4.2 | 5.02 |
21 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 27 | Louisiana | 3.53 | 4.08 | 3.59 | 4.35 | 4.95 |
33 | 25 | 23 | 27 | 28 | North Dakota | 1.44 | 3.56 | 3.88 | 4.19 | 4.31 |
30 | 27 | 25 | 28 | 29 | Minnesota | 1.66 | 3.16 | 3.44 | 3.73 | 4.27 |
37 | 38 | 34 | 30 | 30 | New Mexico | 1.18 | 1.89 | 2.35 | 3.66 | 4.2 |
29 | 35 | 37 | 31 | 31 | New York | 1.69 | 2.13 | 2.17 | 3.58 | 4.01 |
34 | 30 | 29 | 32 | 32 | Wisconsin | 1.41 | 2.73 | 2.8 | 3.35 | 3.76 |
27 | 29 | 33 | 33 | 33 | Michigan | 2.18 | 2.85 | 2.38 | 3.31 | 3.71 |
38 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 34 | Colorado | 1.11 | 2.17 | 2.3 | 3.02 | 3.64 |
32 | 32 | 31 | 34 | 35 | Maine | 1.49 | 2.27 | 2.59 | 3.02 | 3.43 |
40 | 37 | 36 | 38 | 36 | Montana | 0.98 | 1.92 | 2.21 | 2.58 | 3.22 |
39 | 33 | 32 | 36 | 37 | Wyoming | 0.99 | 2.22 | 2.53 | 3 | 3.21 |
28 | 36 | 38 | 37 | 38 | New Jersey | 1.8 | 2.11 | 1.73 | 2.73 | 3.13 |
35 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 | Connecticut | 1.38 | 1.86 | 1.7 | 2.47 | 2.92 |
44 | 42 | 41 | 41 | 40 | Washington | 0.73 | 1.32 | 1.56 | 1.97 | 2.62 |
36 | 41 | 42 | 40 | 41 | Idaho | 1.34 | 1.45 | 1.44 | 2.14 | 2.39 |
41 | 40 | 40 | 42 | 42 | New Hampshire | 0.93 | 1.57 | 1.66 | 1.78 | 2.18 |
48 | 45 | 45 | 43 | 43 | Arizona | 0.58 | 1.09 | 1.16 | 1.72 | 2.05 |
49 | 47 | 43 | 44 | 44 | Oregon | 0.53 | 0.96 | 1.17 | 1.58 | 2.04 |
45 | 46 | 46 | 45 | 45 | Massachusetts | 0.7 | 1 | 1.1 | 1.39 | 1.6 |
46 | 44 | 47 | 46 | 45 | California | 0.68 | 1.14 | 0.94 | 1.08 | 1.6 |
42 | 43 | 43 | 48 | 47 | Alaska | 0.91 | 1.25 | 1.17 | 0.99 | 1.37 |
46 | 48 | 48 | 47 | 48 | Rhode Island | 0.68 | 0.84 | 0.92 | 1.03 | 1.09 |
50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 49 | Nevada | 0.38 | 0.57 | 0.57 | 0.75 | 0.94 |
42 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 50 | Hawaii | 0.91 | 0.75 | 0.82 | 0.76 | 0.76 |
51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | Utah | 0.14 | 0.33 | 0.38 | 0.4 | 0.42 |
Note that data collection methods for religious bodies change over time, affecting the comparability of statistics. For further information, see the U.S. Religion Census website at https://www.usreligioncensus.org/.
The 2020 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include data for 373 religious bodies or groups. Of these, the ASARB was able to gather data on congregations and adherents for 217 and on congregations only for 156.
[More information on the data sources]