How Many Catholics Live In Illinois And Iowa?

With the death of Pope Francis, eyes have been on the Catholic church this week.

Ever since I moved to the Quad Cities, I've met a lot of Catholic folks. Nothing at all is wrong with that, for the record, I love them. It seems like there are a lot of Catholics in this area and statistics back that up.

According to the latest Pew Research for Illinois, Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity in the state. 62% of adults in Illinois identify as Christians.

Illinois could get their name in the Catholic record books, as one of their own is in the running to become the new pope.

Read More: Illinois Native Among Front-Runners To Become New Pope

Evangelical Protestant are the second most popular Christian denomination in Illinois, with the leader of those being the Baptists.

Iowa's Amount Of Catholics

Pew Research for Iowa shows that, in the same recent numbers, there is one big similarity with Illinois. The same amount of adults in Iowa that identify as Christian match Illinois' numbers: 62%.

Mainline Protestants are the prevalent denomination (the leader in that group is the one I grew up in, Methodists) at 25%, Evangelical Protestants are 21%, and Catholics are the third-largest denomination in Iowa, with 15%.

Statistics from 2020 show that there were over 470,000 Catholic adherents in Iowa, which is about 14.5% of the state's population. Dubuque County has the highest number of White Catholics, according to 2022 statistics from the Public Religion Research Institute, with 45% being White Catholic. Scott County, according to the map, is 16%.

Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois have the largest number of Catholics. According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, they serve about 2 million Catholics in the counties.