Religious Congregations & Membership: 2000

A list of contact persons is provided below. For other questions, contact Glenmary's Communications Office at 513-881-7442 or jbach@glenmary.org

Catholics in the United States: 2000
Preliminary Observations on Data Reported for Religious Congregations & Membership
in the United States: 2000. Presented by Kenneth M. Sanchagrin, Ph.D., Director of the Glenmary Research Center, publisher of the study and collector of the Catholic data for the study. Dr. Sanchagrin, a member of the ASARB committee that directed the study, also teaches sociology at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C. He can be reached by e-mail or by phone: 615-256-1905.

These observations are made in reference to a set of 10 tables (in PDF format) based on the Catholic data collected by the Glenmary Research Center for this 2000 study. It is compared to data collected for the 1990 study, also published by the Glenmary Research Center under the title, Churches and Church Membership in the United States: 1990.

Observations on Table 1

Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States: 2000 shows that Catholics numbered just over 62 million in 2000, a 16 percent increase over that indicated in Churches & Church Membership in the United States: 1990. Of the 17 religious bodies with 1 million or more adherents in 2000, only six showed an increase in numbers while 10 showed a decline in numbers. Muslims were not counted in 1990.

The Religious Congregations Membership Study 2000 (RCMS 2000), in conjunction with the earlier Church Membership Studies published by the Glenmary Research Center, can document changes like these but cannot, in themselves, explain the reasons for the changes.

Among the gainers, four religious bodies showed double-digit increases-- between 16 percent for Catholics and 19 percent for Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). The only other Christian body showing a gain was the Southern Baptist Convention at nearly 5 percent.

It can be noted that, except for Catholics, all those bodies gaining members between 1990 and 2000 generally are considered “Conservative Protestants,” while most of those showing a decrease in number of adherents generally are considered “Moderate” or “Liberal” Protestants.

Observations on Tables 2 and 3

For some time the U.S. Census Bureau has documented an increased rate of growth and migration patterns for the West and South. RCMS 2000 shows that the Northeast, a “traditionally Catholic” region still has more Catholics than any other region. Interestingly, the West has surpassed the Midwest, the other “traditionally Catholic” region in numbers, and the South remains the “least Catholic region in the nation.

Much more to the point are the differences in rates of change for the regions. The traditionally Catholic regions have barely grown (both the Midwest and Northeast have grown less than 5 percent) while the West and South have each had double-digit growth rates (30 % for the South and 42 % for the West). If these trends continue, there will be a noticeable shift in the “center of gravity” of the Catholic population in the United States.

Table 3 provides further information on changes in Catholic presence. The number of churches reported in 2000 as compared to 1990 decreased in both the Northeast (by slightly over 6 %) and in the Midwest (by about 5 %). The South, at nearly 1 percent, and the West, at 3 percent, show increases in the number of churches. It may well be the case that the large urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest are closing churches in urban neighborhoods where Catholic populations have abandoned them . and/or it may be that it is simply easier for the South to show a percent increase in churches because they started with a smaller number. Still, there has been a shift in number of churches away from the “traditionally Catholic” regions.

Observations on Tables 4 and 5

The states with large Catholic populations have large total populations as well, ranging from 2 million in Michigan to over 10 million in California. By and large those states with the greatest numbers of Catholics remained the same in 2000 as in 1990. Table 4, however, shows that California, Texas and Florida, all Southern states, moved up in rank order between 1990 and 2000, while most of the remaining states in the traditionally Catholic areas went down in rank order or did not change.

The picture is less clear in states with the fewest number of Catholics. By and large the same states that had the fewest Catholics in 1990 had the fewest in 2000 except —except for Alabama and Vermont , which are now on the list. The Southern states in the “10 fewest” list changed in rank order but all grew in terms of Catholic population.

Observations on Tables 6 an 7

Although the sheer number of Catholics present in a place is important, the proportion of a population which is Catholic is often more significant in the religious, political, economic and social life of a community or state. Looking at the “10 Most Catholic” states in terms of percentage Catholic, one notes that from one-third to over half of the populations of these states are Catholic.
The same five states that were at the top of the list in 1990 remain there in 2000, albeit with a decrease in the percent Catholic. For example, Rhode Island remains the “most Catholic state” with almost 52 percent of its population claimed by the Catholic Church. Still, this is a decrease from the 63 percent that put it in first place in 1990. By and large, the states in the lower half of the list find that the percentage of their population Catholic increased in the 10-year period. Finally all of the states in Table 6, except for New Mexico, are in the Northeast or Midwest.

As indicated in Table 7, All the states with low percentage Catholic had less than 6 percent of their population Catholic. The state with the lowest percent Catholic in 2000 is Tennessee which replaced the North Carolina-South Carolina tie for lowest percent Catholic in 1990. An interesting, but not surprising, point to note is that all of the states in Table 7 are in the South and West.

Observations on Tables 8 and 9

Catholic growth or decline cannot be understood apart from the growth or decline of the general population. Table 8 shows that the greatest rate of Catholic population growth occurred in southern or western states and ranged from a 45 percent increase in Arkansas to a whopping 111 percent increase in Nevada.

In every state, the percent Catholic growth from 1990 to 2000 was very substantially greater than the general population growth. In fact the Catholic population of Washington, DC, more than doubled while the total population declined by almost 6 percent. For various reasons that are not apparent from RCMS 2000 data alone, North Carolina is a state to watch because it is undergoing dramatic demographic and social changes.

Among the states showing decline, steady-state, or slow growth in Catholic population, only Louisiana (a traditional stronghold of Catholicism) is a southern state. All of the other states in this list, except West Virginia and Hawaii, are in the Midwest or Northeast. Overall, the states in this list lost from just over 14 percent to a small gain of 4 percent in Catholic population. Although Rhode Island remains the “most Catholic” state, its Catholic population has the largest decrease (14 %), while its general population has increased by almost 5 percent. The only state in Table 9 to have grown in Catholic population more than it grew in total population is North Dakota.

Additional Resources:
• Methodology and Cautions
• Media release statement stated Sept. 20, 2002
• Key findings from study
• Key findings for specific religious bodies
• Glossary of terms/abbreviations
• History and background of the study
• Resource people to contact
• Listings and rankings
• Maps
• To preview 2000 study online
• To order