PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Residents of Mississippi are the most faithful churchgoers in the United States, while Vermonters are least likely to worship, the Gallup Poll said.
Generally, residents of southern states are the most likely to report going to church weekly, the poll said. New England and the west have the fewest regular churchgoers.
The findings are based on daily tracking polls Gallup began in 2008 and are based on surveys of more than 350,000 people.
In 2009, 41.6 percent of those polled across the country said they go to a church, synagogue or mosque at least once a week. While 63 percent of Mississippi residents were in this group, only 23 percent of Vermonters were.
Other states with high church attendance were Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas in the south and Utah.
Those with low church attendance are New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in New England and Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska and Washington in the West.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index released Wednesday has a margin of error of 1 percent either way for the entire country, 1 to 2 percent for most states and up to 4 percent for smaller states.
