Where are the most Catholic places in the U.S.?

Where are the most Catholic places in the United States? You might have guessed Boston, New York, or maybe Philadelphia or Chicago – places that because of past waves of immigration still retain a Catholic flavor. A new study by Georgetown University researchers found out where actual Catholics live and worship, and the most intensely Catholic places are not where you’d think.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) found that when they took a look at the actual data the highest concentration of Catholic adherents (defined as “those who are known in some way to each Catholic parish or mission in the area”) is found in the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota. Surprised? We were too.

Here’s a complete list of CARA’s list of counties where Catholic adherents are two-thirds or more of the total population (2010). CARA used data from the U.S. Religion Census, The Official Catholic Directory, CARA’s own databases, and Google Trends.