An article on The Barna Group’s website seems to suggest that Birmingham is the most Christian city in the United States. The article is based on 39,423 telephone interviews conducted over the last seven years and published as two reports: Markets 2011 and States 2011. Birmingham is ranked first among weekly church attendance (67%) and second in the number of people who self-identify as being Christian (96%). No other city was ranked in the top four in both categories.
Cities with Highest Percentage of Respondents Indicating Weekly Church Attendance
- Birmingham (67%)
- Baton Rouge (62%)
- Salt Lake City (62%)
- Huntsville (60%)
Cities with Highest Percentage of Respondents Self-Identifying as Christian
- Shreveport (98%)
- Birmingham (96%)
- Charlotte (96%)
- Nashville (95%)
So What?
According to this research, even the cities with the lowest percentages of respondents who self-identify as Christians are overwhelmingly Christian:
- San Francisco (68%)
- Portland, Oregon (71%)
- Portland, Maine (72%)
- Seattle (73%), Sacramento (73%), and New York (73%)
Were you aware that so many Americans think of themselves as Christians?
Why do you think the general perception is that far fewer people are Christian than this research suggests?
How does a view of your city’s culture as dominantly Christian inform your outreach/evangelism/marketing on the congregational level?