The most “Bible-minded” U.S. cities continue to be located in the south, according to research by the Barna Group sponsored by the American Bible Society.
Barna defines “Bible-minded” as “those who report reading the Bible in the past week and who strongly assert the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches.”
The report analyzed responses from individuals living in the top 100 U.S. media markets – geographic areas defined by The Nielsen Company that often encapsulate several cities within its boundaries.
Chattanooga, Tennessee, retained the top spot, a position it has held four of the last five years.
The region of Birmingham, Anniston and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ranked second, with Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia; Tri-Cities, Tennessee; and Shreveport, Louisiana, rounding out the top five.
Tri-Cities moving ahead of Shreveport is the only change in the top five from 2016.
“The next five are also located in the Southern ‘Bible belt,'” Barna found: Charlotte, North Carolina; Springfield, Missouri; Little Rock and Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and, Knoxville, Tennessee. Tied for 10th place were Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, South Carolina; and Asheville, North Carolina.
Four of the five least Bible-minded cities were located in the northeast and remained unchanged from 2016.
Albany, Schenectady and Troy, New York, held the lowest spot for the second year.
Rounding out the bottom five were Boston, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire; Providence, Rhode Island, and New Bedford, Massachusetts; Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa; and Buffalo, New York.
The full report is available here.
