Los Angeles Home to Most Evangelicals
Baptist Press
Contrary to its stereotypical labels like “Godless Hollywood” and “Lost Angeles,” Los Angeles is the metropolitan area with the greatest number of evangelical adults.
Its one million faithful Christians are more than those in the New York, Chicago and Boston metropolitan areas combined, according to a study by The Barna Group.
But George Barna was quick to put the statistics in perspective. “Keep in mind that the metropolitan L.A. market is huge; it contains more than 10 million adults,” he said in an Aug. 23 news release. “Even though its percentage of Christians is below the national average, its population is so massive that it emerged as the largest accumulation of believers. However, looking at its aggregate score as a Christian place, L.A. is 13 percent below the national average.
“It is not exactly a Christian commune,” Barna added, “but like many metropolitan areas, Los Angeles has a significant remnant of believers who can exert tremendous, positive influence on their culture if they so choose.”
Barna’s “Faith By Market” report also found that Little Rock, Ark., has the highest percentage of evangelicals with 22 percent.
Of the 86 largest metro areas in the nation, those with the lowest portion of evangelicals were Salt Lake City, Utah; Hartford, Conn.; and Providence, R.I. (www.barna.org)
