Sources & Bibliography
Latter-day Saints by the Numbers — the religious-adherents data index (216 findings) and the America's Most Devout explainer.
Primary sources (Pew, Gallup, GSS, CES, official Church reports, peer-reviewed studies) are separated from secondary reporting and the data-aggregator layer. Figures labeled “author’s weighted tabulation” were computed directly from Pew’s 2023-24 RLS public-use microdata file. Aggregator (Teeples / Mormon Metrics) and journalism entries visualize or report the primary data noted in each citation.
Primary survey datasets — Pew Research Center
The backbone of the project. The 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study is also the source of the original microdata cross-tabs (the 'author's weighted tabulation' figures) computed from the public-use file.
Primary survey datasets — Gallup
Gallup has polled U.S. religion since the 1930s; these are the specific reports cited.
Other survey programs & censuses
Independent datasets used for trends, politics, and adherent counts.
Official Church statistics
Self-reported membership, congregations, missionaries, temples, converts, and humanitarian figures.
Academic & peer-reviewed — health, longevity, mortality
The non-LDS epidemiology behind the longevity and health findings.
- Enstrom JE & Breslow L, 'Lifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980-2004,' Preventive Medicine 2008 (PubMed) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17920112/
- Enstrom & Breslow 2008 (ScienceDirect) — https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743507003258
- Enstrom JE, 'Health Practices and Mortality Among Active California Mormons, 1980-93' (BYU RSC) — https://rsc.byu.edu/latter-day-saint-social-life/health-practices-mortality-among-active-california-mormons-1980-93
- Lyon JL, Klauber MR, Gardner JW, Smart CR, 'Cancer Incidence in Mormons and Non-Mormons in Utah, 1966-1970,' NEJM 1976 — https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJM197601152940303
- Lyon JL et al., cancer incidence follow-up, Cancer Causes & Control 1994 (PubMed) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8167262/
- Hilton SC, Fellingham GW, Lyon JL, 'Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah,' Am J Epidemiology 2002 — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11867352/
- Koenig HG, 'Religion, Spirituality, and Health,' ISRN Psychiatry 2012 — https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/278730/
- Harvard Human Flourishing Program — https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/
- Global Flourishing Study — https://globalflourishingstudy.com/
- BYU Religious Studies Center — 'Religion and Drug Use' (Word of Wisdom / substance use) — https://rsc.byu.edu/religion-mental-health-latter-day-saints/religion-drug-use
Academic & peer-reviewed — social, economic, family, growth
- Cnaan RA, Evans V, Curtis DW, 'Called to Serve: The Prosocial Behavior of Active Latter-day Saints,' Univ. of Pennsylvania 2012 (Penn Today) — https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-research-shows-mormons-are-generous-and-active-helping-others
- Cnaan et al., 'Charitable Practices of Latter-day Saints,' Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly 2015 — https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0899764013508010
- Heaton TB et al., 'Temple Marriages Are Less Likely to End in Divorce,' BYU Studies — https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/temple-marriages-are-less-likely-to-end-in-divorce
- Heaton TB, Bahr SJ, Jacobson CK (2005) — LDS marriage/divorce statistics (via mormonr.org) — https://mormonr.org/qnas/0uQ4aB/latter_day_saint_marriage_and_divorce_statistics
- Heaton TB & Goodman KL — LDS family demography (BYU RSC, 'Family Life') — https://rsc.byu.edu/shield-faith/family-life
- Albrecht SL & Heaton TB, 'Secularization, Higher Education, and Religiosity,' Review of Religious Research 1984 (BYU RSC) — https://rsc.byu.edu/latter-day-saint-social-life/secularization-higher-education-religiosity
- Chetty R, Hendren N, Kline P, Saez E, 'Where Is the Land of Opportunity?' QJE 2014 — Opportunity Insights — https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/land-of-opportunity/
- Stark R, 'The Rise of a New World Faith,' Review of Religious Research 1984 (BYU RSC reprint) — https://rsc.byu.edu/latter-day-saint-social-life/rise-new-world-faith
- National Study of Youth and Religion (Notre Dame / Christian Smith) — https://youthandreligion.nd.edu/
Books
- Thomas F. O'Dea, 'The Mormons,' University of Chicago Press, 1957 (Internet Archive) — https://archive.org/details/mormons0000odea_m7p2
- Robert D. Putnam & David E. Campbell, 'American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,' Simon & Schuster, 2010 — https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Grace/Robert-D-Putnam/9781416566731
- Vern L. Bengtson et al., 'Families and Faith: How Religion Is Passed Down Across Generations,' Oxford Univ. Press, 2013 — https://global.oup.com/academic/product/families-and-faith-9780199948659
- Jana Riess & Benjamin Knoll, The Next Mormons Survey — https://thenextmormons.org/survey-results/
- Clint Teeples, 'Latter-day Saints by Numbers: Research, Insights, and Outcomes,' 2025 — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4PV9SH4
Government & state data
Journalism & secondary reporting
Used where Pew's interactive database returned 403 to automated fetches, or to corroborate; the underlying data is Pew/Gallup/CES/Church as noted.
Data aggregation & analysis — Clint Teeples / Mormon Metrics
Clint Teeples (@TeeplesCY) compiles and visualizes the primary sources above. His charts are secondary presentations; each finding in the index records the specific post. Full per-post list in the appendix below.
Appendix — cited @TeeplesCY posts
50 posts referenced across the index; each visualizes an underlying primary source.
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1973578385650839581 Oct 2, 2025 · underlying: Pew Research Center, 'What Americans Know About Religion' (2019)
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1977182043512750283 Oct 12, 2025 · underlying: Pew Religious Landscape Study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1978527645882319127 Oct 15, 2025 · underlying: text-analysis study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1981739127528681769 Oct 24, 2025 · underlying: Church missionary announcements
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1982609005316014481 Oct 27, 2025 · underlying: Pew/contact survey
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1982998516915151192 Oct 28, 2025 · underlying: Church membership records by country
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1983198124375187745 Oct 28, 2025 · underlying: Church publishing figures
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1983291771393323267 Oct 28, 2025 · underlying: Census data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1984702292889911751 Nov 1, 2025 · underlying: Glimpse search data + Church baptism figures
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1984790301475815631 Nov 2, 2025 · underlying: welfare-system research paper
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1989929113931702737 Nov 16, 2025 · underlying: county/community-level research
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1990923676645273988 Nov 18, 2025 · underlying: New York Times (1962) + current Church data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1992464890658017655 Nov 23, 2025 · underlying: Church leadership remarks
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1993407685472166350 Nov 25, 2025 · underlying: returned-missionary survey
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1995299349325308368 Dec 1, 2025 · underlying: Missionary Dept. data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1995639168823865664 Dec 1, 2025 · underlying: General Social Survey
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1997728212617740692 Dec 7, 2025 · underlying: congregational counts
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/1998775124284031122 Dec 10, 2025 · underlying: Vern Bengtson et al., 'Families and Faith: How Religion Is Passed Down Across Generations' (Oxford Univ. Press, 2013)
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2003531863059759400 Dec 23, 2025 · underlying: Pew RLS and multiple national datasets
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2004785216037290237 Dec 27, 2025 · underlying: coaching rosters
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2006558904503988394 Jan 1, 2026 · underlying: Church temple records
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2008940967156711726 Jan 7, 2026 · underlying: Pew Religious Landscape Study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2011103050136764885 Jan 13, 2026 · underlying: Pew Research
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2029955643218743522 Mar 6, 2026 · underlying: Utah vital statistics
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2036093116462284819 Mar 23, 2026 · underlying: Ryan Burge analysis
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2038642387086614990 Mar 30, 2026 · underlying: Ryan Burge / 2024 study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2039078941634498760 Mar 31, 2026 · underlying: historical Church records
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040530763255628082 Apr 4, 2026 · underlying: Church of Jesus Christ Missionary Dept. / annual statistical report
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040575263726289035 Apr 4, 2026 · underlying: 2025 Church statistical report
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040600143662395652 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Church statistical & General Conference reports
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812454511518187 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Church humanitarian report
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812456168280538 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Church humanitarian reports
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812458072490053 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Church service data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812464359817337 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Church self-reliance program data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812467660722361 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: BYU-Pathway data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812478490448117 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Pew Research Center
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812480319127936 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Pew Research Center
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2040812483418759508 Apr 5, 2026 · underlying: Pew Research Center 2023-24 RLS
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2041875645526077700 Apr 8, 2026 · underlying: family structure index report
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2043339336591286402 Apr 12, 2026 · underlying: Church membership records by state
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2043761232071799213 Apr 13, 2026 · underlying: Church membership data by country
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2044446661204992157 Apr 15, 2026 · underlying: PRRI
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2046241739036631549 Apr 20, 2026 · underlying: emigration/voyage records
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2048094058728632568 Apr 25, 2026 · underlying: Church education program data
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2049126665557873019 Apr 28, 2026
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2052398943477313651 May 7, 2026 · underlying: National Study of Youth and Religion (Notre Dame / Christian Smith)
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2054722730520682890 May 14, 2026 · underlying: academic-achievement study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2056199323847942280 May 18, 2026 · underlying: Pew Research Center
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2056539504715207084 May 19, 2026 · underlying: Harvard Human Flourishing / Global Flourishing Study
- https://x.com/TeeplesCY/status/2060563077045903699 May 30, 2026 · underlying: stylometric/wordprint text analysis