Original research · July 31, 2026
Church Web Presence Study 2026
How many US congregation records include a website URL? We counted 334,555 records in Churches List. Of those, 237,225 had no website URL recorded, or 70.9%.
Key takeaways
What this snapshot shows.
- Most counted records had no website URL recorded on July 31, 2026.
- The share differs among states and larger religious traditions.
- A URL field describes the directory record; it does not verify a working website.
Main count
Website URLs were absent from most records.
The July 31, 2026 snapshot covered all 334,555 congregation records in the Churches List production database, across the fifty states and the District of Columbia. A record counted as having a website if it carried a nonempty web address. Social media pages did not count as websites.
| Record status | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| URL recorded | 97,330 | 29.1 percent |
| No URL recorded | 237,225 | 70.9% |
| Total records | 334,555 | All records |
Differences by state
The national average hides a wide range.
South Carolina had the highest share without a recorded website URL among the states listed here, at 84.2%. New Hampshire had the lowest, at 49.0%. These are state shares from the same July 2026 snapshot, not current availability checks.
| State | Share |
|---|---|
| South Carolina | 84.2% |
| Mississippi | 83.5% |
| West Virginia | 83.3% |
| Tennessee | 82.2% |
| Oklahoma | 80.9% |
| State | Share |
|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 49.0% |
| Massachusetts | 52.0% |
| Connecticut | 52.9% |
| Colorado | 55.2% |
| Arizona | 56.1% |
Other patterns in the snapshot
Tradition and profile status also differ.
Among traditions with at least 5,000 congregation records, the share without a website URL ranged from 48.6 percent to 87.5 percent. Catholic parishes were the only large tradition in this comparison where most records carried a URL.
The database recorded 11,363 congregations with a verified Google Business Profile, or 3.4 percent of all records. Among those verified-profile records, 8.1 percent lacked a website URL. Across all records, 70.9% lacked one. This is an association in the snapshot; it does not show that claiming a profile caused a website to be added.
The denominator for the national URL share is all 334,555 records. The 8.1 percent figure uses only records with a verified Google Business Profile. The tradition range uses groups with at least 5,000 records.
What the data can say
A recorded URL is a field, not a website audit.
A nonempty URL field does not verify that a website was working, current or controlled by the congregation on July 31, 2026. An empty field does not prove that a congregation had no website elsewhere. The count measures what the directory recorded at the snapshot date.
The state, tradition and Google Business Profile comparisons describe records in this database. They are not a causal test, a survey of congregations or a forecast of current web presence.
Method and access
Count every record, then check the website field.
We counted the Churches List production database on July 31, 2026. The snapshot included 334,555 congregational records in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. A nonempty web address counted as a website URL; a social media page did not.
The Churches List dataset page describes access for research and commercial use, including a free 500-row sample and a per-field data dictionary. Use the sample to inspect field definitions; the published totals come from the full production snapshot.
97,330 records with a URL
+ 237,225 records without a URL
= 334,555 records countedA practical next step
Four checks a congregation can make.
The count shows how many records have no website URL. The free church web checklist explains the steps in full, with no signup.
- Claim the Google Business Profile.Check the public listing and its contact details.
- Publish service or program times.Give visitors stable, useful information about when and where to come.
- Claim the directory listing.Correct the record people may find in search.
- Name a person who answers.Make the contact route clear and maintain it.
Free help
Use the data without hiring anyone.
The free help for nonprofits page links to a web presence audit and the four-step checklist. Both can be used without signing up. If you want Pinnacli to review a website, the form below offers a separate free written review.