What part of the country has become more Catholic in the last 25 years? If one were to look at Catholic population growth it would be apparent that there are more Catholics in states where there are more people in 2025 than in 2000. Generally, when populations grow in the U.S., the number of Catholics grows. This can happen through natural increases (more births than deaths) as well as migration and immigration. Two states stand out here in recent years: Texas and Florida. On a regional level, the South has experienced a net gain of more than 7.4 million Catholics from 2000 to 2025. The West has seen minimal net growth adding 1 million Catholics. At the same time the Northeast lost 4.4 million Catholics and the Midwest lost 2.3 million in the last 25 years. This is all part of a broader long-term shift of the U.S. population from the “Rust Belt” of the Northeast and Midwest to the “Sun Belt” of the South and to a lesser extent the West.
The changes described above have occurred during an unusual period of decreasing mobility in the population. In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 17% of the population moved during the year. This has steadily declined to an annual rate of about 12% in 2024.
There are a few “outliers” in the overall population change patterns described above when one is specifically looking at Catholics. First, it’s important to note that these estimations are based on the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) decennial Religion Census, three Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Surveys, and the Comparative Study of Electoral System (CSES) surveys. Each of these collections has varying methods and limitations.
Reviewing what we can, it is apparent that states like Alaska and South Carolina stand out. In the 2000s, Alaska’s Catholic population was just over 50,000. Currently, Catholics number more than 110,000 in the state for a 111% increase over the last 25 years. Meanwhile, Alaska saw just 18% overall population growth during this period. South Carolina has shown incremental growth in its Catholic population over time. In 2000, just 3% of the state was Catholic and this more than doubled in the last 25 years. The Catholic population of South Carolina grew by more than 250% while the state overall experienced 37% population growth. In 2000, Catholics numbered about 136,000 in the state and now in 2025 represent more than 450,000. South Carolina is a Southern state. Thus, it is part of that shift to the Sun Belt. However, Catholics are growing in number here at a pace well above this general population shift.
There are other Southern states where we can see the Catholic population growth rate outpacing the total population growth rates. These include North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Outside of this Southern shift there are a few other states where Catholic numbers are outpacing overall growth. Oklahoma has seen its Catholic population rise from just under 170,000 in 2000 to more than 350,000 in 2024 (growing by 80% compared to 23% for the total population). Nevada has seen its Catholic population rise from more than 330,000 in 2000 to approximately 695,000 in 2024 (growing by 107% compared to 64% for the total population).
It’s important to note that states with rapid Catholic population growth are not the most Catholic in absolute numbers by any means. California remains the state with the largest number of Catholics followed by Texas, New York, and Florida. South Carolina sits in the middle of the pack of states in terms of its Catholic population size and Alaska is near the bottom.
