Religious pluralism and the North Carolina religious adherence rate, 1926

Data from the 1926 Census of Religious Bodies are utilized to explore the 1926 North Carolina religious economy. State, regional and county variations in religious adherence are estimated and analyzed, and religious primacy groups are identified. In 1926 Baptists were the denominational primacy group, and Southern Baptists were the primacy religious group for the state, but neither group dominated the North Carolina religious marketplace. Regional-level religious pluralism and denominational primacy data provide support for the Stark, Finke and Iannaccone religious pluralism hypothesis, but county-level data fail to provide support. Further evaluation of the association among religious primacy, religious pluralism and local market penetration is warranted since support for the religious pluralism proposition appears to vary by the unit of analysis employed.