Which U.S. city has the most churches per capita?

[bonhoeffer]

I live in Louisville KY and I have always heard that we have the most churches per capita. While hunting online to verify this fact, I saw that Las Vegas and Cincinnati also claim to have the most churches per capita. I could not find verification for any of these claims. Can anyone find verifiable data on this? Thank you!

[silenus]

Well.....according to my research, and the Guinness Book of Records, that title goes to, or at least went to: Turlock, California. But then there are other sites that claim Wheaton, Ill. and Abilene, Tx as having the most. Louisville isn't mentioned anywhere. :D

[Abbie Carmichael]

Huntington, West Virginia (http://www.huntingtonchamber.org/localinfo/lifestyle_guide/worship.html) claims 2 records:

1. Most churches per capita
2. Most churches on one particular street than any other street in the country

#1 is probably false. I'd put money on #2, though. Throw a rock on 5th Avenue and you'll hit a church.



Probably 5th Avenue Baptist, because as the website says it's a monster of a building.

[Philster]

Must be Centralia, PA.

A once fully occupied coal mining town that has been virtually abandoned since an underground coal fire went out of control and will take decades (centuries?) to burn out.

I believe something like two people remain in town.

If there is just once church, then that is 1 church for every 2 people.

[Ephemera]

I think this is probably one of those superlatives that every small city tries to lay claim to as the one I am currently living in -- Dallas, Oregon -- is said to have the same distinction.

[Askia]

I used to think this was especially true of Aiken, SC. Whole damn town is covered with churches -- black, white, non-denominational, storefront, revival camps...

[HeyHomie]

Just for laughs, you all may be interested in hearing about the town of Liberal, Missouri.

It was founded in 18mumblemumble by a forward-thinking (for the time) visionary who disdained organized religion, the demon rum, and Republicans. In that order. He set out to create a utopia, as it were, where there were no bars or churches. The townsfolk would be like-minded, well-educated liberals who could raise their children in an environment free of religion.

Today Liberal, Missouri has no more or no fewer churches (and bars, for that matter) than any town of similar size in western Missouri. As for its residents' politics, one can only guess. But I note that rural western Missouri tends to lean heavily to the right.

[Skammer]

I have heard this about Wheaton, IL (as mentioned) and also about Nashville, TN (which I doubt).

I think it's more likely to be a small town. If you have three churches in a town of 1500 (like many small towns), that's one for every 500 people. In a city of 500,000 people, you'd need 1,000 churches for the same ratio.

[jfortun]

My son goes to a private (non-religous) school in Wheaton, IL and I for one believe the claim.

The number of churches is almost frightening.

[bouv]

Well, I don't know about churches, but Sunnydale, CA has the most cemeteries per capita. :D

[Duke]

Must be Centralia, PA. (snip)... I believe something like two people remain in town.

If there is just once church, then that is 1 church for every 2 people. Twenty people (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/PACENmine.html), actually. But it's rather a moot point--I would figure that the OP is inquiring about active congregations. If there's nobody around, there's nobody to go to church.

[CaveMike]

I have often heard Wheaton, IL too, but I don't think it can be true. The population of Wheaton is 55,416 (http://www.commerce.state.il.us/communityprofiles/profiles/WHEATON.HTM) and their website lists 32 (http://www.wheaton.il.us/Community/Related-Li/churches.htm_cvt.htm) churches. Yahoo yellow pages lists 46 (http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypResults.py?Pyt=Typ&city=Wheaton&state=IL&uzip=60187&country=us&msa=1600&cs=4&ed=OeV.DK1o2TypM27jkA0VB_0szcW3JuZYqZ4v8aM_qvbn&tab=B2C&stx=85537085&stp=y&desc=All+Churches&offset=19&FBoffset=0&toggle=&stat=ClkNxtUpper&ls=&lp=&xargs=02u3hs9yoaKCstSjWzAFC1QsyyctTTIMQYAAGMUQwG). That means churches per capita of either 1732 or 1205. Doesn't seem that high.

Contrast that with Evanston, IL. The population is 74,239 (http://www.cityofevanston.org/facts.html). Their website lists (very roughly) 97 (http://www.epl.org/city/worship.html) houses of worship. Yahoo yellow pages lists 104. With churches per capita of either 765 or 714.

However, there must be tons of rural towns with 100 people and one church.

[Wendell Wagner]

I grew up on a farm where the nearest town had 300 people and two churches. The next nearest town had 350 people and also had two churches. Most of the people in those churches didn't live in town but in the surrounding rural areas. There was nothing remotely special about these towns, I suspect. A lot of small towns in the U.S. have approximately the same numbers. I think that it's probably impossible to come up with a useful answer to the question in the OP unless you specify a minimum size for the town. In most very small towns, the congregation of the churches consists mostly of people who live in nearby farms and such and not in the town itself.

[Turlock turkeys]

Yes, I live in Turlock and altho' we are an agriculture town. There has got to be atleast 4/5 churches almost on every bust street. I was just thinking abt counting them again.
But, just because you have lots of churches doesn't mean it is the safest city. I know, my daughter is a victim ofa crime.

[Wendell Wagner]

As of the 2010 census, Turlock had a population of more than 80,000. While it's true that there was once a claim that Turlock had the most churches per capita, that claim dates back to the 1930's. This was probably because it was very ethnically diverse and had a separate church for each ethnic group:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turlock,_California

As I said in my post (back in 2004), I think this is very unlikely to be true. There are probably some small towns with, say, 400 people in the town itself with two or three churches. This is because the churches actually serve the entire surrounding area which has a lot of rural residents. So there are really two or three churches for 3,000 to 5,000 people. A small town of 400 people with two churches has one church *within the town itself* for each 200 people. Turlock would have to have 400 churches to equal this. I really suspect this isn't the case. An honest, valid comparison would have to take into account the population of the area that the churches actually serve.

[smile5everyday]

Tallmadge [1] is a city in Summit County. The city holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most churches per capita.

[smile5everyday]

Tallmadge, Ohio which is situated in Summit County has the most churches per capita in the U.S.

[ZipperJJ]

Tallmadge, Ohio which is situated in Summit County has the most churches per capita in the U.S.

Never heard of that before. According to this random church listing page (http://www.churchangel.com/WEBOH/tallmadge.htm) there are 26 churches there for 17,570 people. Kirtland, the opposite way up Rt. 91, has 10 churches (http://www.kirtlandohio.com/info/worship.html) for 6,880 people. They're both at about 680 people per church. That can't hardly be a record.

Both places do have historical churches, though.

[Hershele Ostropoler]

I'm wondering if there can be different answers depending on definitions (including or excluding unincorporated suburbs, say, or juggling what you consider a house of worship).

[Leo Bloom]

I'm dying to tell one of my favorite Jewish jokes, it's exactly on point, but I just did a couple weeks ago in another thread. Somebody coax me....

[joe.russell]

Pella, IA has a population of 10, 352 according to wikipedia. With 28 churches according to yahoo, and with a local claiming there is 42.

[TriPolar]

I'm dying to tell one of my favorite Jewish jokes, it's exactly on point, but I just did a couple weeks ago in another thread. Somebody coax me....

Go ahead, I know what it must be, but let's hear your version.

[Deeg]

Page, Arizona might be in the discussion. It's in Mormon country so there are a fair amount of LDS churches. Page is on the edge of an Indian reservation and for whatever reason there are a bunch of small churches of multiple denominations that sit just on the outside of the reservation. I've always assumed there was some proscription against churches on the res so they set up just outside.