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Sorry, Colorado Springs: The Top 10 Most 'Bible Minded' Cities in America

New list by Barna and American Bible Society examines regular Bible reading, belief in accuracy.
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The American Bible Society has partnered with The Barna Group to identify America's most "Bible-minded" cities, based on "highest combined levels of regular Bible reading and belief in the Bible's accuracy."

Their No. 1 pick? Knoxville, Tennessee.

The complete Top 10:

#10. Charleston, W.Va

#9. Huntsville, Ala.

#8. Roanoke/Lynchburg, Va.

#7. Charlotte, N.C.

#6. Springfield, Mo.

#5. Jackson, Miss.

#4. Birmingham, Ala.

#3. Chattanooga, Tenn.

#2. Shreveport, La.

#1. Knoxville, Tenn.

RNS offers a quick photo tour of the top 10 cities.

"While the Bible Belt performed strongly, Colorado Springs, Colo., deemed the No. 1 "holiest city" by Men's Health just two years ago, has now fallen to the middle of the pack," noted ABS. "And, debunking any sense of a single, monolithic region, other stereotypically known Bible Belt cities fell to the mid-range rankings include Houston, Texas; Tulsa, Okla.; and San Antonio, Texas."

More interestingly: "A closer look at the findings showed a trend related to population density. Of the top 25 Bible-minded markets, only three have a population of greater than 1 million households: Charlotte, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Raleigh/Durham, N.C."

By contrast, the least Bible-minded cities (RNS offers a photo tour of these as well):

#10. Buffalo, N.Y.

#9. Cedar Rapids, Iowa

#8. Phoenix, Ariz.

#7. San Francisco

#6. Boston, Mass.

#5. Hartford/New Haven, Conn.

#4. Portland, Maine

#3. Burlington, Vt.

#2. Albany, N.Y.

#1. Providence, R.I./ New Bedford, Mass.

View Barna's full ranking of 96 cities here.

March
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