Miami Is One of the Most Godless Cities in America

Lord knows that a lot of sinning goes down in Miami, but not that many of you are going to church Sunday to repent. According to the Public Religion Research Institute's American Values Atlas, the Miami metro area has one of the highest proportions of people who aren't affiliated with organized religion in the nation. 

The survey found that 24 percent of Miamians — that's about one of four residents — don't claim membership in a church. That makes Miami tied for 12th place as the most irreligious major city in the country. 

Sure, that's a lower godless rate than noted sinner dens like Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland, where 37 percent of the population isn't religious, but Miami is less religious than places like New York City, Atlanta, and Chicago. 

Here's the breakdown of Miami's religious demographics: 

Unaffiliated: 24 percent 
Hispanic Catholic: 18 percent 
Black Protestant: 11 percent 
Hispanic Protestant: 11 percent 
White Catholic: 8 percent
Jewish: 6 percent
White Mainline Protestant: 6 percent
White Evangelical Protestant: 5 percent 

The survey didn't specifically ask respondents if they were atheist or agnostic, so the unaffiliated population isn't necessarily all nonbelievers. They just don't even pretend to belong to a church. 

Unsurprisingly, Miami has the highest percentage of Hispanic Catholics of any major metro area aside from Los Angeles. 

Miami is also tied with New York for having the highest percentage of Jews, with 6 percent each. Miami's proportion of Jews is four times higher than the national rate of 1.5 percent. 

Meanwhile, the Magic City has one of the lowest rates of white Evangelical Protestants, with only Boston, New York, and San Francisco having lower percentages. That by far makes Miami the Southern city with the fewest white Evangelicals. In Tampa and Orlando, they account for 17 percent of the population.