New Study Ranks ‘Bible-Mindedness’ Of American Cities

The American Bible Society and the Barna Group recently completed a study about the most and least Bible-friendly cities in America. The study was based upon Bible trends in 96 areas and more than 40,000 interviews.

The Bible study asked participants if they read the good book during a typical week. The research group also asked respondents if they believe the Bible teachings are accurate. Overall, the most Bible-minded cities are in the South, The Blaze notes. In the top ranking cities at least half of those polled were considered Bible-minded.

The most Bible-friendly cities in America include Knoxville, Shreveport, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Jackson, Mississippi. Although the cities considered the least Bible-minded were scattered among different states, many were from the New England area.

The lowest rank city on the list was Providence. According to the study, only 9 percent of those polled were considered Bible-minded. Albany, New York came in next to last. Other cities which ranked near the bottom of the Bible-friendly city poll include Burlington, Vermont, Portland, Boston, Buffalo, and New York City.

Although Florida is a Southern state, many of its major cities did not rank very high on the Bible-minded chart. Metropolitan areas in the Sunshine State which scored low include West Palm Beach, Miami, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Jacksonville.

Bakersfield, California was one of the most Bible-minded cities among the Pacific states. San Francisco score lower than any other California urban area. Most of the major cities in Texas ranked near the top of the American Bible Society study.

The Barna Group statistics also note that of the 30 largest cities in America, 10 are in the upper half of the Bible-minded rankings.

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