The United Methodist Church is the third largest religious body in the United States and the largest Methodist body in the world. After years of schisms and mergers throughout American history, it is now the home of the majority of affiliated American Methodists.
United Methodists as a percentage of state populations. Click here or on map to see a larger version.
Top 10 U.S. States with Highest Percentage of United Methodists in the Population, 1990
Rank
State
Percent
1
Oklahoma
10.37%
2
West Virginia
10.19
3
Iowa
9.83
4
Kansas
9.61
5
Mississippi
9.34
6
Nebraska
9.20
7
Delaware
9.17
8
North Carolina
9.13
9
South Carolina
8.86
10
Alabama
8.22
Top 10 U.S. States with Most
United Methodists, 1990
Rank
State
Number
Percent
1
Texas
1,004,318
5.91%
2
Pennsylvania
722,871
6.08
3
Ohio
656,107
6.05
4
North Carolina
605,362
9.13
5
Georgia
530,076
8.18
6
Virginia
490,789
7.93
7
New York
466,586
2.59
8
Florida
462,174
3.57
9
Illinois
440,681
3.86
10
Tennessee
396,862
8.14
States on both lists (Highest Number and Highest Percent): North Carolina.
Top 25 U.S. Counties with Highest Percentage of United Methodists in the Population, 1990
County
Percent
Number
Highland, VA
39.28%
1,035
Kiowa, KS
36.61
1,340
Deuel, NE
36.25
811
Ness, KS
36.18
1,459
Grant, OK
33.96
1,932
Jewell, KS
33.24
1,413
Faulk, SD
32.62
895
Hooker, NE
32.53
258
Hitchcock, NE
32.43
1,216
Cimarron, OK
31.23
1,031
Clark, KS
31.02
750
Chase, KS
30.59
924
Perkins, NE
30.50
1,027
Greene, IA
30.00
3,014
Cheyenne, KS
29.32
951
Lane, KS
29.26
695
Webster, NE
28.77
1,231
Furnas, NE
28.56
1,586
Harper, OK
28.50
1,158
Stanton, KS
28.03
654
Lipscomb, TX
27.94
878
Keya Paha, NE
27.70
285
Coffey, KS
27.48
2,309
Rice, KS
27.20
2,886
Comanche, KS
27.06
626
States in this list: Kansas (11), Nebraska (7), Oklahoma (3), South Dakota, Iowa, Texas and Virginia.
Top 25 U.S. Counties with Largest Number of United Methodists, 1990
County
Number
Percent
Harris, TX
165,055
5.86%
Dallas, TX
112,771
6.09
Tarrant, TX
83,135
7.10
Los Angeles, CA
70,590
0.80
Fulton, GA
62,725
9.67
Jefferson, AL
61,020
9.37
Oklahoma, OK
60,882
10.15
Tulsa, OK
60,172
11.95
Cook, IL
57,560
1.13
Allegheny, PA
54,527
4.08
Franklin, OH
51,135
5.32
Fairfax, VA
46,813
5.52
Shelby, TN
46,357
5.61
Pinellas, FL
44,193
5.19
Guilford, NC
42,083
12.11
Baltimore, MD
41,345
5.97
Mecklenburg, NC
40,876
7.99
De Kalb, GA
40,380
7.40
Bexar, TX
37,801
3.19
Maricopa, AZ
37,538
1.77
Pulaski, AR
37,107
10.61
Marion, IN
37,027
4.64
Davidson, TN
36,991
7.24
Hamilton, OH
36,358
4.20
Wake, NC
36,288
8.57
Source:Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1990, published by the Glenmary Research Center, P.O. Box 507, Mars Hill, NC 28754. Principle investigator: Church Growth Research Center, Church of the Nazarene, Kansas City, MO. This data source was obtained from the American Religion Data Archive.
