Wednesday, August 3, 2011

LDS Church Growth in the United States: 2000 to 2010

Four different statistics are provided below for the LDS Church in the United States between 2000 and 2010:
  • States with the highest and lowest percentage growth in membership
  • States with the highest and lowest percentage growth in congregations
  • States with the highest and lowest numerical increase in membership
  • States with the highest and lowest numerical increase in congregations
As a whole LDS membership and the number of congregations increased by 18% in the United States during this period indicating that the number of congregations and church membership increased commensurately.  LDS membership increased by 935,755 and the total number of congregations increased by 2,059 nationwide.

States with the highest percentage growth in membership:
  1. District of Columbia - 87% - 2,382 members
  2. Tennessee - 44% - 45,574 members
  3. Iowa - 37% - 24,614 members
  4. Kentucky - 37% - 32,261 members
  5. Texas - 36% - 296,141 members
  6. North Dakota - 36% - 6,930 members
  7. Delaware - 35% - 5,814 members
  8. West Virginia - 35% - 16,710 members
  9. Arkansas - 34% - 27,559 members
  10. South Carolina - 33% - 36,947 members
States with the lowest percentage growth in membership:
  1. California - 2% - 763,370 members
  2. Oregon - 9% - 147,965 members
  3. New Hampshire - 10% - 8,231 members
  4. Michigan - 11% - 42,319 members
  5. Vermont - 13% - 4,384 members
  6. Massachusetts - 15% - 24,965 members
  7. Montana - 15% - 46,484 members
  8. Maryland - 16% - 40,854 members
  9. Wyoming - 16% - 63,069 members
  10. Rhode Island - 17% - 3,833 members
    States with the highest percentage growth in congregations:
    1. Delaware - 50% - 12 congregations
    2. Virginia - 33% - 195 congregations
    3. North Carolina - 32% - 154 congregations
    4. Texas - 29% - 577 congregations
    5. Tennessee - 29% - 98 congregations
    6. Idaho - 27% - 1,077 congregations
    7. Georgia - 27% - 151 congregations
    8. Alaska - 25% - 80 congregations
    9. Utah - 25% - 4,834 congregations
    10. Arizona - 25% - 801 congregations
    States with the lowest percentage growth in congregations:
    1. Louisiana - -18% - 51
    2. Connecticut - -6% - 32
    3. New York - -6% - 151
    4. Maryland - -5% - 78
    5. New Jersey - -3% - 59
    6. New Hampshire - 0% - 21
    7. Vermont - 0% - 12
    8. Rhode Island - 0% - 7
    9. Maine - 0% - 28
    10. South Dakota - 0% - 33
    11. District of Columbia - 0% - 3
      States with the highest numerical increase in membership:
      1. Utah - 280,341 members - 1,910,343 members
      2. Texas - 78,416 members - 296,141 members
      3. Arizona - 74,673 members - 387,950 members
      4. Idaho - 65,754 members - 414,185 members
      5. Washington - 38,290 members - 267,927 members
      6. Nevada - 27,063 members - 175,149 members
      7. Colorado - 26,865 members - 142,473 members
      8. Florida - 24,705 members - 136,549 members
      9. Virginia - 20,168 members - 89,297 members
      10. North Carolina - 19,033 members - 76,865 members
      States with the lowest numerical increase in membership:
      1. Vermont - 514 members - 4,384 members
      2. Rhode Island - 546 members - 3,833 members
      3. New Hampshire - 762 members - 8,231 members
      4. District of Columbia - 1,111 members - 2,382 members
      5. Delaware - 1,347 members - 5,184 members
      6. South Dakota - 1,592 members - 9,812 members
      7. Maine - 1,698 members - 10,684 members
      8. North Dakota - 1,828 members - 6,930 members
      9. Connecticut - 2,372 members - 14,990 members
      10. Massachusetts - 3,229 members - 24,965 members
        States with the highest increase in the number of congregations:
        1. Utah - 962 - 4,834
        2. Idaho - 229 - 1,077
        3. Arizona - 158 - 801
        4. Texas - 130 - 577
        5. Nevada - 60 - 323
        6. Washington - 49 - 522
        7. Virginia - 48 - 195
        8. Colorado - 45 - 289
        9. California - 43 - 1,361
        10. North Carolina - 37 - 154
         States with the lowest increase in the number of congregations:
        1. Louisiana - -11 - 51
        2. New York - -9 - 151
        3. Maryland - -4 - 78
        4. Connecticut - -2 - 32
        5. New Jersey - -2 - 59
        6. Vermont - 0 - 12
        7. Rhode Island - 0 - 7
        8. New Hampshire - 0 - 21
        9. District of Columbia - 0 - 3
        10. South Dakota - 0 - 33
        11. Maine - 0 - 28
        Below is a pie chart providing a breakdown of numerical increase in membership by state between 2000 and 2010.


          at

          9 comments:

          1. JohnAugust 3, 2011 at 8:01 AM

            Once again, Delaware has twelve congregations, not thirteen.

            ReplyDelete
          2. MattAugust 3, 2011 at 8:20 AM

            Thanks again - the number of congregations in Delaware reported on the official lds.org website is 13 so that is why I keep making the mistake.

            ReplyDelete
          3. JohnAugust 3, 2011 at 8:22 AM

            I wonder what congregation they're reporting on the wrong side of the line.

            ReplyDelete
          4. TempleRickAugust 3, 2011 at 1:21 PM

            It's the Salisbury 2nd Ward that is classified incorrectly. The meetinghouse address for that ward is in Maryland, but the "Political Location" field is set to "Delaware, United States." That is the field the Church uses to compile its statistics.

            ReplyDelete
          5. Stephen BartonAugust 3, 2011 at 4:15 PM

            Matt, Moscow just became a stake recently. Have you heard anything about the St Petersburg District becoming a stake in the near future? I count 11 branches within 30 miles of the city... similar in numbers of congregations to moscow before it became a stake.

            ReplyDelete
          6. The Chatelain'sAugust 8, 2011 at 5:42 AM

            I hope this won't affect the blog related to U.S. and Canada church growth, but when one tries to visit the different stakes sites it says that you must be a membe of that ward or stake. Hopefully this just scheduled maintenance

            ReplyDelete
          7. GnesileahAugust 8, 2011 at 8:24 AM

            @ The Chatelains: I noticed this last night too, but then I logged in, and then from my ward homepage, clicked on the Stake and Ward Web Sites link on the left side of the screen, and I was then able to access all the stakes. I have heard that all the old stake sites will be taken off line for good in about two months. I wish we had another way of seeing all units assigned to a particular stake or district. With lds.org/maps, you have to either already know the unit name, or select the corresponding geographic location, or meetinghouse, to get information about a unit. It would be great if we could access a list of all stakes/districts by area/country/state then navigate down to all units assigned to that territory.

            ReplyDelete
          8. The Chatelain'sAugust 8, 2011 at 2:37 PM

            Is there any chance that maps.LDS.org will show any more than stake and ward boundaries for the home stake? I don't see any problem with showing additonal boundaries as long as household locations aren't shown for those non-home units

            ReplyDelete
          9. galtzoAugust 29, 2011 at 12:38 PM

            District of Columbia has 3 units, and almost 3K members. That's a really terrible rate of activity! 51% increase in membership, and no increase in units must mean that the units are *still* not overflowing to the point of splitting the wards. The church seems to be withering n the vine in some areas.

            ReplyDelete