This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The nation's most religious metropolis is — wait for it — Salt Lake City.
That may not surprise Utahns — after all, the city hosts the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and boasts a number of lively minority faiths — but newly released statistics show just how religious the area is.
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of metro Salt Lake's 1 million-plus residents — essentially Salt Lake County — are affiliated with a faith group, according to the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations and Membership Study.
That figure tops runner-up Birmingham, Ala., (71 percent) and third-place finisher Oklahoma City (60 percent). Memphis (59 percent) came in fourth, followed by Pittsburgh (58 percent), Chicago (57 percent), Providence, R.I. (57 percent), Boston (57 percent), New York (56 percent) and Dallas (55 percent).
Portland, Ore., ended up dead last among 51 metro areas, with 32 percent of residents belonging to a faith group.
The survey, which coincides with the once-a-decade U.S. Census, assembled membership figures provided by hundreds of religious bodies.
Of course, not all of metro Salt Lake's religious adherents are Mormons. According to the latest LDS Church figures supplied to the state, Mormons make up barely half the population (51.4 percent) of Salt Lake County.
The 2010 Religion Census also painted Utah as the most religious state — with religious adherence at 75 percent or higher in most of its counties.
A Gallup poll, reported in March, ranked Utah second on the faith scale, behind Mississippi but ahead of Alabama. According to that survey, 57 percent of the Beehive State's population claims religious affiliation compared with Mississippi's 59 percent.
Facebook.com/religiongal
Twitter:@religiongal