Protestant Christianity in the United States splits into three main traditions tracked separately by researchers. Evangelical Protestant congregations, rooted mostly in the Southern Baptist Convention, Pentecostal bodies, and independent non-denominational churches, make up the largest of the three nationally. The Association of Religion Data Archives counts adherents down to the county level using the 2020 US Religion Census. The highest county in that count, King County in Texas, posts an Evangelical Protestant share higher than any state’s own average.
Key Takeaways
King County, Texas posted the highest Evangelical Protestant share of any US county in 2020, at 45.25 percent, higher than Alabama’s leading state average of 42.1 percent.
All ten of the highest counties have small populations, ranging from 265 people in King County, Texas, to 12,126 in Edmonson County, Kentucky.
Nine of the ten highest counties are in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, and Kentucky, mostly rural cattle and cropland counties.
Alabama posted the highest state level Evangelical Protestant share in 2020, at 42.1 percent, with Oklahoma close behind at 41.86 percent.
The Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, and Seventh-day Adventist Church are among the denominations the US Religion Census classifies as Evangelical Protestant, tracked separately from Mainline and Historically Black Protestant traditions.
Evangelical Protestant Compared With Other Traditions
Evangelical Protestant denominations share a few defining traits. Personal conversion, often called being born again. Biblical authority. An active push to share the faith with others. That combination sets them apart from Mainline Protestant denominations such as the United Methodist Church or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which lean toward broader theological interpretation and more centralized governance.
The census also tracks Historically Black Protestant denominations, the National Baptist Convention and the African Methodist Episcopal Church among them, as a separate tradition. Their congregations trace back to independent Black churches established during and after slavery. Catholic and Orthodox communities fall outside both categories, built around the papacy or a patriarchate rather than individual congregational authority.
Ten counties lead the national count for 2020. Nine of them are small, rural counties spread across Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, and Kentucky, most with populations under 3,000.
Top 10 US Counties by Evangelical Protestant Share in 2020
Rank
County
State
Evangelical Protestant Share (2020)
2020 Population
1
King County
Texas
45.25%
265
2
Harmon County
Oklahoma
14.75%
2,488
3
Kiowa County
Colorado
14.74%
1,446
4
Worth County
Missouri
13.97%
1,973
5
Edmonson County
Kentucky
12.87%
12,126
6
Morris County
Texas
12.30%
11,973
7
Stonewall County
Texas
11.12%
1,245
8
Collingsworth County
Texas
10.10%
2,652
9
Throckmorton County
Texas
8.96%
1,440
10
Hickman County
Kentucky
8.70%
4,521
Nine of the ten counties fall along a narrow stretch from West Texas and Oklahoma up through Colorado, Missouri, and Kentucky.
Evangelical Protestant Share by State in 2020
While individual counties can soar far past state averages, as King County does, statewide totals naturally flatten out into a much narrower range. Alabama and Oklahoma led the nation in 2020, with both states clearing 41 percent, while five New England states stayed under 7%.
