Evangelical Protestants in the US

By Dr. Aslam Abdullah

The number of evangelicals in the United States can range from 6–35% of the population, depending on how the term is defined. In 2015, Pew Research Center reported that 25% of US adults identified with evangelical denominations, while Wheaton College’s Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals estimated that 30–35% (90–100 million people) of the population was evangelical in 2016

Though the percentage of Americans identifying with evangelical Protestant denominations has ticked downward, the absolute number of evangelicals appears to rise as the overall U.S. population grows. In 2014, there were roughly 62.2 million evangelical Protestant adults, up from about 59.8 million in 2007.

There isn’t much information about the number of Catholic evangelicals in the United States, but here’s some information about the size of the Catholic and evangelical populations in the US, including:

As of 2021, there were around 70 million Catholics in the US, which is about 21% of the population.

Depending on how “evangelical” is defined, estimates of the evangelical population in the US range from 6–35%. In 2016, Wheaton College’s Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals estimated that 30–35% of the population, or around 90–100 million people, were evangelical. Evangelicals make up the majority of US Protestants, with 55% of Protestants identifying as evangelical in 2015.

Protestants are not open at all to papal primacy. According to the Evangelical view, this dogma contradicts statements in the Bible. Catholics see in the pope the successor of the Apostle Peter, the first head of their Church, who was appointed by Jesus.

Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.

The term evangelical comes from the word “evangel,” which refers to the good news of Jesus Christ—that Jesus came to save humanity. Evangelicals hold four cardinal beliefs.

One belief is that the Bible is inerrant.

A second belief is that the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.

A third belief is that individuals must accept salvation for themselves. They must convert.

The fourth belief is the need to proselytize or to spread the evangel, to evangelize.

The highest number of Evangelical Protestants in the United States are in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The smallest population of Protestants is in Utah, which Mormons dominate. The Protestant population in Utah is 7% of its population. Other states with Protestant populations include the District of Columbia (8%) and Massachusetts (9%). The other states that have relatively high Evangelical Protestant populations include California (20%), New Mexico (23%), North Dakota (22%), and Illinois (20%).

US States By Evangelical Protestant Population
Tennessee

52% of Tennessee’s population subscribes to Evangelical Protestantism. Some denominations in Tennessee include the National Baptist Convention, Church of God of Prophecy, Free Will Baptist Church, Church of God in Christ, Southern Baptist Convention Church, and Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The state also hosts the Free Will Baptist’s major Bible College in Nashville. The evangelical churches also have their publishing houses in Tennessee.
Alabama And Kentucky

The second-highest numbers of Protestants in American states are in Alabama and Kentucky. Protestants make up 49% of the population of both states. Alabama has the highest number of regular church attendees in the US. 58% of its population are regular churchgoers who believe they have a “full understanding of their faith.” The church with the highest number of attendees is the Southern Baptist Convention.

Similarly, a large portion of Kentucky’s population, 1,448,947 people, are Evangelical Protestants. The state also hosts many seminaries and headquarters for some churches, including the Lexington and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Oklahoma

Oklahoma has the third-largest number of Protestants, 47% of its population. It also hosts one of the highest numbers of conservative evangelicals in the US: the Southern Baptist Convention, has over a million members.

Bible Belt States

The four states are within the “Bible Belt,” a region in the southeastern and south-central United States known for their conservative Christian values.
Megachurches In America

Evangelical Protestants make up nearly a quarter of the United States’s population. In many areas, large congregations exist that are used as Evangelical places of worship. These are called megachurches due to their large congregations of over 1,000 members. About 1,3000 churches qualify as megachurches in the US; a further 1,000 churches fall just short of the mark.
US States By Evangelical Protestant Population

1 Tennessee 52%

2 Alabama 49%

3 Kentucky 49%

4 Oklahoma 47%

5 Arkansas 46%

6 Mississippi 41%

7 West Virginia 39%

8 Georgia 38%

9 Missouri 36%

10 North Carolina 35%

11 South Carolina 35%

12 Indiana 31%

13 Kansas 31%

14 Texas 31%

15 Virginia 30%

16 Ohio 29%

17 Oregon 29%

18 Iowa 28%

19 Montana 28%

20 Louisiana 27%

21 Wyoming 27%

22 Arizona 26%

23 Colorado 26%

24 Hawaii 25%

25 Michigan 25%

26 Nebraska 25%

27 South Dakota 25%

28 Washington 25%

29 Florida 24%

30 New Mexico 23%

31 Alaska 22%

32 North Dakota 22%

33 Wisconsin 22%

34 Idaho 21%

35 California 20%

36 Illinois 20%

37 Nevada 20%

38 Minnesota 19%

39 Pennsylvania 19%

40 Maryland 18%

41 Delaware 15%

42 Maine 14%

43 Rhode Island 14%

44 Connecticut 13%

45 New Hampshire 13%

46 New Jersey 13%

47 Vermont 11%

48 New York 10%

49 Massachusetts 9%

50 District of Columbia 8%

51 Utah 7%