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.
