Most And Least Muslim States In America (PHOTOS)

Click through the slideshow to see most and least Muslim states in America:

A study measuring religious bodies in the United States called the, “2010 U.S. Religious Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study (RCMS)” was recently released by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). The most comprehensive study of its kind, it provides detailed county-by-county information on congregations, members, adherents and attendance for 236 different faiths groups. (The survey differentiates between specific denominations within the same tradition.)

The researchers found Illinois to be the most Muslim state with around 2.8 percent of the population identifying as Muslim adherents. The researchers found Montana to be the least Muslim state with only 0.034 percent identifying as Muslim adherents.

More than 2.6 million Muslim adherents and 2,106 congregations were reported in 592 congregations across the country. The researchers define adherents to be those with an affiliation to a congregation including children, members and attendees who are not members, and believe that the adherent measure is the most complete and comparable across religious groups. Congregations are defined as groups of people who meet regularly at a pre-announced time and location.

As illustrated in the map below, cities where more than 1 percent identified as a Muslim adherent were in the deep South, parts of the Midwest and Northeast.

As the map below shows, over the last 10 years Muslim communities across the United States have seen tremendous growth.

In fact, the researchers find that Islam is the largest non-Christian group in 20 American states, mostly in the South and Midwest: Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Bibliography:
Grammich, Clifford, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E. Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley, and Richard H. Taylor, 2012. 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

For a list of most and least religious cities, click here.

For a list of most and least interfaith cities, click here.

For a list of most and least Christian states, click here.

For a list of most and least Mormon states, click here.

For a list of most and least Jewish states, click here.

Most and least religious states (Gallup)