Gallup Poll measures religiosity, state by state

Mississippi is the most religious state and Vermont the least religious, based on a Gallup Poll that asked more than 355,000 American adults, "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" In Mississippi, 85 percent answered yes; in Vermont, 42 percent. In case you're wondering, Mississippi would have been No. 1 even without African Americans. The overall number was 65 percent.

"Joining Mississippi in the top 'most religious' states are other notches in the Bible Belt: Alabama (82%), South Carolina (80%), Tennessee (79%), Louisiana (78%), and Arkansas (78%)," reports Religion News Service's Adelle Banks. The next six states were also in the South, broadly defined: Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas and West Virginia. "New England predominates in the top 'least religious' states: Following Vermont are New Hampshire (46%), Maine (48%), Massachusetts (48%), Alaska (51%) and Washington (52%)," Banks writes.

The poll's overall error margin is plus or minus 1 percent; the margin for individual states could be as much as 4 points for smaller states. For Banks's story and the full list, from USA Today, click here.