Massachusetts Ranks 38th in Religious Liberty
The 2026 Religious Liberty in the States report places Massachusetts near the bottom half of states nationwide.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Christianity
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Massachusetts ranked 38th overall in the 2026 Religious Liberty in the States report, with a score of 35 percent. The state has moved between 18th and 38th across the 2022 through 2026 editions of the report.
Why it matters
The ranking reflects how states protect or decline to protect religious liberty across fifty distinct measures, including safeguards tied to health care, religious life, and family and education. None of the New England states rank among the top 20 in the report.
The report examines twenty safeguards for each of the 50 states, the source of the state's 38th-place ranking and its 35 percent score. The extraction does not detail how individual safeguards were weighted.
The details
The report considers safeguards including abortion refusal, nonparticipation by public officials and clergy in weddings, health insurance mandates, and immunization issues. Massachusetts sits alongside Maine (25th), Rhode Island (26th), New Hampshire (30th) and Connecticut (33rd) among New England states, while Vermont ranks 49th.
Timeline
2022: Massachusetts ranked 18th for religious liberty.
2023: Massachusetts ranked 31st for religious liberty.
2024: Massachusetts ranked 36th for religious liberty.
2025: Massachusetts ranked 29th for religious liberty.
2026: Massachusetts ranked 38th in the latest report.
Regional Context
Massachusetts's 38th-place finish in the annual Religious Liberty in the States report falls well behind its 2022 ranking of 18th. None of the New England states rank among the top 20 in the report.
Massachusetts residents and religious organizations operate under the protections and gaps measured by this ranking. The extraction does not specify any direct policy change that would follow from the report.
The takeaway
Massachusetts's place in the report reflects a set of measurable religious liberty safeguards that residents can review in the full state-by-state comparison. Readers interested in the details can compare which protections each state currently provides.
Further reading
Explore more on Christianity and how states approach religious freedom in Massachusetts.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 1420 WBSM.
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