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How many churches are in the US?

By Louis-Marie Giudicenti. Published . Updated . Data read .

There are 464,799 churches on Google Maps in the US as of November 9, 2026, one for every 732 residents. The 2020 U.S. Religion Census counted 356,739 congregations of all faiths. Google Maps counts places, and one congregation can have several: a chapel, an office, a second campus.

464,799
churches on Google Maps in the US
13.7
per 10,000 residentsone for every 732
39,390
in Texas, the most of any state
36.0
per 10,000 residents in Mississippi, the most of any state

Source: Primavera’s database of Google Maps listings, snapshot 2026-11, read November 9, 2026. Population: Census 2024 estimates. See method.

Our count next to the Census and the official figures

Each source counts something different: Google Maps lists places, the Census counts businesses with or without paid staff, and federations count their members or their own definition. Here they are side by side.

Number of churches in the US: Primavera’s Google Maps count next to official figures
Source and what it countsYearNumber
Primavera, Google Maps listings: churches open on the map, service points left out2026464,799
U.S. Religion Census (ASARB), 2020 U.S. Religion Census: Congregations of all faiths, counted from the records of 372 religious bodies2020356,739
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: Religious organizations with paid employees, all faiths (NAICS 813110)2023186,801

Primavera’s count is 2.5 times the Census count of establishments with paid employees (186,801 in 2023).

Sources: Census national files and federation pages read on November 4, 2026; Primavera, snapshot 2026-11.

Why the numbers differ

  • Places, not congregations. A parish with a chapel, an office or a second campus can have a listing for each; the Religion Census counts the congregation once.
  • Records, not the map. The Religion Census counts the congregations of the 372 religious bodies it identified. Any church with a Google Maps listing is counted here, whoever it reports to.
  • Paid staff. County Business Patterns counts 186,801 religious organizations with paid employees, all faiths together. A church run by volunteers is not in it.
  • Faiths. This count is Christian churches only (categories named church, chapel or cathedral). Mosques, synagogues and temples are in both official counts, not in ours.
  • Dates. The Religion Census describes 2020 and County Business Patterns 2023; this count, November 9, 2026.

One part of this count has a page of its own: Catholic churches.

Which state has the most churches?

Texas, with 39,390 listings, ahead of California (29,282). Per resident, Mississippi has the most: 36.0 per 10,000 residents, against 13.7 for the US.

Churches per 10,000 residents, by state

Google Maps listings counted November 9, 2026. US: 13.7 per 10,000 residents.

Delaware: 1,536 churches, 14.6 per 10,000 residentsDE14.6District of Columbia: 875 churches, 12.5 per 10,000 residentsDC12.5Florida: 24,264 churches, 10.4 per 10,000 residentsFL10.4Georgia: 21,529 churches, 19.3 per 10,000 residentsGA19.3Hawaii: 1,292 churches, 8.9 per 10,000 residentsHI8.9Idaho: 2,170 churches, 10.8 per 10,000 residentsID10.8Illinois: 15,970 churches, 12.6 per 10,000 residentsIL12.6Indiana: 11,202 churches, 16.2 per 10,000 residentsIN16.2Iowa: 5,698 churches, 17.6 per 10,000 residentsIA17.6Kansas: 5,517 churches, 18.6 per 10,000 residentsKS18.6Kentucky: 10,538 churches, 23.0 per 10,000 residentsKY23.0Louisiana: 10,127 churches, 22.0 per 10,000 residentsLA22.0Maine: 1,935 churches, 13.8 per 10,000 residentsME13.8Maryland: 8,453 churches, 13.5 per 10,000 residentsMD13.5Massachusetts: 5,611 churches, 7.9 per 10,000 residentsMA7.9Michigan: 12,537 churches, 12.4 per 10,000 residentsMI12.4Minnesota: 6,743 churches, 11.6 per 10,000 residentsMN11.6Mississippi: 10,598 churches, 36.0 per 10,000 residentsMS36.0Missouri: 11,652 churches, 18.7 per 10,000 residentsMO18.7Montana: 1,950 churches, 17.1 per 10,000 residentsMT17.1Nebraska: 3,419 churches, 17.0 per 10,000 residentsNE17.0Nevada: 1,794 churches, 5.5 per 10,000 residentsNV5.5New Hampshire: 1,331 churches, 9.4 per 10,000 residentsNH9.4New Jersey: 8,492 churches, 8.9 per 10,000 residentsNJ8.9New Mexico: 2,950 churches, 13.8 per 10,000 residentsNM13.8New York: 18,077 churches, 9.1 per 10,000 residentsNY9.1North Carolina: 24,466 churches, 22.1 per 10,000 residentsNC22.1North Dakota: 1,622 churches, 20.4 per 10,000 residentsND20.4Ohio: 17,868 churches, 15.0 per 10,000 residentsOH15.0Oklahoma: 8,804 churches, 21.5 per 10,000 residentsOK21.5Oregon: 4,253 churches, 10.0 per 10,000 residentsOR10.0Pennsylvania: 18,815 churches, 14.4 per 10,000 residentsPA14.4Rhode Island: 999 churches, 9.0 per 10,000 residentsRI9.0South Carolina: 12,678 churches, 23.1 per 10,000 residentsSC23.1South Dakota: 1,953 churches, 21.1 per 10,000 residentsSD21.1Tennessee: 16,836 churches, 23.3 per 10,000 residentsTN23.3Texas: 39,390 churches, 12.6 per 10,000 residentsTX12.6Utah: 3,128 churches, 8.9 per 10,000 residentsUT8.9Vermont: 838 churches, 12.9 per 10,000 residentsVT12.9Virginia: 15,288 churches, 17.4 per 10,000 residentsVA17.4Washington: 6,733 churches, 8.5 per 10,000 residentsWA8.5West Virginia: 6,192 churches, 35.0 per 10,000 residentsWV35.0Wisconsin: 7,340 churches, 12.3 per 10,000 residentsWI12.3Wyoming: 1,016 churches, 17.3 per 10,000 residentsWY17.3Alaska: 1,285 churches, 17.4 per 10,000 residentsAK17.4Connecticut: 3,535 churches, 9.6 per 10,000 residentsCT9.6California: 29,282 churches, 7.4 per 10,000 residentsCA7.4Colorado: 5,045 churches, 8.5 per 10,000 residentsCO8.5Arizona: 5,475 churches, 7.2 per 10,000 residentsAZ7.2Arkansas: 9,258 churches, 30.0 per 10,000 residentsAR30.0Alabama: 16,440 churches, 31.9 per 10,000 residentsAL31.9
  • 5.5–9.0
  • 9.1–12.5
  • 12.6–16.2
  • 17.0–20.4
  • 21.1–36.0

Each square is a state, placed roughly where it is on a map. Darker means more per resident.

US states ranked by churches per 10,000 residents, with the number of churches and its rank
#StateChurchesRank by numberPer 10,000 residentsvs US
1Mississippi10,5981736.0+22.3
2West Virginia6,1922735.0+21.3
3Alabama16,4401031.9+18.2
4Arkansas9,2582030.0+16.3
5Tennessee16,836923.3+9.6
6South Carolina12,6781323.1+9.4
7Kentucky10,5381823.0+9.3
8North Carolina24,466322.1+8.4
9Louisiana10,1271922.0+8.3
10Oklahoma8,8042121.5+7.8
11South Dakota1,9533921.1+7.4
12North Dakota1,6224320.4+6.7
13Georgia21,529519.3+5.6
14Missouri11,6521518.7+5.0
15Kansas5,5173018.6+4.9
16Iowa5,6982817.6+3.9
17Alaska1,2854717.4+3.7
18Virginia15,2881217.4+3.7
19Wyoming1,0164817.3+3.6
20Montana1,9504017.1+3.4
21Nebraska3,4193517.0+3.3
22Indiana11,2021616.2+2.5
23Ohio17,868815.0+1.3
24Delaware1,5364414.6+0.9
25Pennsylvania18,815614.4+0.7
26New Mexico2,9503713.8+0.1
27Maine1,9354113.8+0.1
28Maryland8,4532313.5−0.2
29Vermont8385112.9−0.8
30Texas39,390112.6−1.1
31Illinois15,9701112.6−1.1
32District of Columbia8755012.5−1.2
33Michigan12,5371412.4−1.3
34Wisconsin7,3402412.3−1.4
35Minnesota6,7432511.6−2.1
36Idaho2,1703810.8−2.9
37Florida24,264410.4−3.3
38Oregon4,2533310.0−3.7
39Connecticut3,535349.6−4.1
40New Hampshire1,331459.4−4.3
41New York18,07779.1−4.6
42Rhode Island999499.0−4.7
43New Jersey8,492228.9−4.8
44Hawaii1,292468.9−4.8
45Utah3,128368.9−4.8
46Colorado5,045328.5−5.2
47Washington6,733268.5−5.2
48Massachusetts5,611297.9−5.8
49California29,28227.4−6.3
50Arizona5,475317.2−6.5
51Nevada1,794425.5−8.2

US: 13.7 per 10,000 residents

In number, Texas (39,390), California (29,282) and North Carolina (24,466) lead. Per resident, Mississippi has 6.6 times as many churches as Nevada, the lowest.

Source: Primavera, snapshot 2026-11, read November 9, 2026. 0 churches without a public address could not be placed in a state and are only in the US total.

How churches show up online

Churches in the United States, by kind of contact listed

Share of all 464,799 listings.

Website link51.7%
Phone number77.4%
Email address53.4%
Churches next to all US businesses: website builders, links, ad tags, ratings and chains
MeasureChurchesAll US businesses
Websites read204,59112,846,647
Built with WordPress35.0%29.2%
Built with Wix14.0%7.1%
Built with Squarespace10.0%5.6%
Site links to Instagram37.0%35.1%
Site links to Facebook69.4%45.2%
Meta Pixel or other Meta script7.2%8.8%
Google Ads tag1.8%6.1%
Average Google rating4.684.44
Rated under 4 stars4.9%17.4%
Median Google reviews811
Part of a chain1.6%7.9%

Churches link to a website less often than the average US business (51.7% against 58.1%), and their sites lean on Facebook: 69.4% of church websites link to a Facebook page, against 45.2% of all US business websites.

Note: Builders, links and tags are shares of the websites Primavera could read (204,591 for churches), social pages and booking platforms excluded. The Meta figure is an upper bound: Meta’s like buttons and chat load the same script as its ad pixel. Sites made with GoDaddy, Weebly or Duda are counted under none of these builders. Ratings: listings with at least one review.

Which chains have the most churches?

Churches are rarely tied together on Google Maps: 1.6% of church listings belong to a network our rules recognize, most of them meetinghouses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (7,369 listings), whose name and website are the same everywhere.

To build a list of these churches with their contact details, see the churches email list.

What these figures don’t say

  • How many people go to church. A listing is a place, not a congregation or its members.
  • Whether a church is still active. A listing counts until Google marks it closed.
  • Mosques, synagogues and temples, which are not in these categories.
  • How many companies own these places. A company with several locations counts once per listing.

Questions

Which state has the most churches?

Texas, with 39,390 listings, ahead of California (29,282). Per resident, Mississippi has the most: 36.0 per 10,000 residents, against 13.7 for the US.

Are there more churches than McDonald’s in the US?

Yes, by far. Primavera counts 464,799 church listings and 14,193 McDonald’s restaurants on Google Maps on the same day: about 33 churches for each McDonald’s.

How many churches are there per person in the US?

About one for every 732 residents, or 13.7 per 10,000. Nevada has the fewest per resident: 5.5 per 10,000.

How many churches have a website?

51.7% of church listings link to a website. That leaves 224,664 churches with no website link on Google Maps.

Method and data

Snapshot 2026-11, read November 9, 2026
What is counted
Open listings on Google Maps in the United States whose main Google category is one of the categories below, or whose main category is generic and another of its categories is: 464,799 listings, counted on October 29, 2026 and read on November 9, 2026. Service points (lockers, charging stations) are left out.
Categories
54 Google Maps categories: Apostolic church, United Church of Christ, Eastern Catholic church, Friends church, Gospel church, Disciples of Christ Church, Deaf church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Unity church, Wesleyan church, Full Gospel church, Reformed church, New Age church, Presbyterian church, Orthodox church, Cathedral and 38 others.
Per resident
Listings for 10,000 residents, with each state’s population from the Census 2024 estimates. States are ranked on the exact ratio.
Official figures
Census County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2024, read in their national files on November 4, 2026; federation pages read the same day. Links are in the table above.
Chains
A listing belongs to a chain when its name starts with the chain’s name and its website matches. Agents or franchisees who put their own name first are not tied to the chain.
Cite and download
Louis-Marie Giudicenti (2026). “How many churches are in the US?” Primavera. Data: snapshot 2026-11, November 9, 2026. https://primaverapp.com/en/data/churches-in-the-us

Permanent link: https://primaverapp.com/en/data/churches-in-the-us

Download: states (CSV), map (SVG)

Free to reuse under the CC BY 4.0 license, with a link to this page.

More on how the database is built: all trade counts and how Primavera builds its data.

Written by Louis-Marie Giudicenti

Founder of Primavera. Primavera sells lists of local businesses built from the same database.

Published
Updated

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