A new report from the Napa Legal Institute ranks all 50 states on how well they protect religious nonprofit organizations. The 2025 Faith and Freedom Index, released Monday, scores each state between 0 and 100, based on two key areas: religious freedom and regulatory freedom. The index evaluates legal protections such as state constitutional rights, Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, emergency powers, and tax exemptions.
Alabama and Kansas received the highest overall scores at 72% and 69%, respectively. Alabama was praised for its “strong constitutional protections for free exercise of religion, a state constitutional amendment requiring government burdens on religious exercise to satisfy strict scrutiny, and an automatic exemption from state corporate income tax for organizations with federal 501(c)(3) status.”
In contrast, Michigan (31%) and Washington (35%) ranked lowest. The Institute reported these states “over-burden and are even hostile towards faith-based nonprofits.”
