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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is ranked the second-most religious state, according to a Gallup poll of 174,000 interviews (500 interviews per state) over a five-year time span from 2008-2013.
The results ranked Mississippi the No. 1 most religious state. Utah came in second in the ranking, with a 60 percent religious population.
But what determines someone as religious? Gallup.com author Frank Newport explained that "Gallup classifies Americans as very religious if they say religion is an important part of their daily lives and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week.”
The findings of the study aren't much of a surprise. After all, the state is home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and “Mormons are the most religious of any category or denomination Gallup routinely measures,” Newport wrote.
The Gallup poll was designed to discover what made some people or areas more religious than others. Researchers found that it was mostly dependent on the local culture: the more religious states had a stronger cultural predisposition to be religious than other states.
The U.S. is still a religious nation. From the interviews and results, Gallup found that seven in 10 Americans are either extremely or at least somewhat religious.
Email: mcbridekailey@yahoo.com.
