this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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I am in no way denying that other states do similar things. I am saying that Utah is a completely different animal than those states. It was founded, incorporated, built, and run by Mormons the entire time (there used to even be a Mormon army), with a super majority of residents themselves being Mormon, all while the Mormon church is one of the richest religious organizations in the county. They're literally one of the biggest private land owners in the country as well. They are rich and by far the most powerful organization in Utah and Idaho.
Again, I do genuinely believe that you'd have to live there (and thus deal with the Utah government) to understand what I mean. It is not the same as the south. There aren't just cult towns like you describe, that is literally the whole state. Even relatively blue areas such as SLC suffer from the control and oversight of the church.
It's insular because it's Mormons giving the reach around to other Mormons. But you see the same social dynamic replicated in other religious groups in other states. You just don't see the bright dividing lines, because the religious organizations transcend state boundaries in other areas of the country. There's not some hard stop between the Kansas and Missouri state lines, where being a Southern Baptist begins and ends.
I've lived a number of places, some of them very deeply religious and others much more plural. I can't speak to Utah specifically, but I can speak to a few places that were functionally operating as Jonestown minus the kool-aid. If you give the history of these states a hard look, you can see the same patterns and the same social structures. "First Colony" got its name for a reason, and it echoes through the community in a way you wouldn't understand unless you lived there.
I'm not sure if this drives home part of my point, but take a look at this (if you click the link, you might have to click "search this area"):
https://www.google.com/maps/search/Church+Of+Jesus+Christ+Of+Latter-Day+Saints/@40.2957943,-111.7057408,15z
That is a tiny, zoomed in silver of roughly three and a half x two Utah blocks (yes, even the block system is different because of the Mormon grid) picked at random in the Utah valley. That is NINE separate LDS churches in that image, all within a 2 minute or less drive of each other.
There is no such thing as an "independent" Mormon church, either, like the religions you are talking about. These all have members paying 10% tithes which goes to the church leadership as a whole. They are wards and individual churches under the same exact umbrella. Go to any place in the valley, and you'll find even more. Where I grew up, there were four LDS churches within a 5 minute walk of my house. No joke.
This is why Mormonism is completely different than any of the other religions you have mentioned. They are a full blown corporation, and there are no independent churches. Zero.
Harris County has 3,031 churches in total, giving a church-to-population ratio of about 1:1,350. Salt Lake City is closer to 1:700. I suppose you could big-dick me and insist that Utah has more. But at some point, we're just arguing a matter of degrees.
Indianapolis, Indiana comes in at 2,892 churches with a population of 830k, giving it 1:289. Here's a street in Tuxedo park with five churches in walking distance that I found just googling around.
No. The Mormons are much more like the Catholics in that regard. Abet, more in the style of an MLM than a horizontal monopoly. The proliferation of Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, and other denominational churches in Texas is much more free-lance. Throwing down churches like we throw down oil wells.
It's a variation on a very well-established theme.
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here. I lived in Utah for multiple decades, and the bubble also goes both ways. If you can't experience it for yourself, you will not understand.
Using SLC to compare is also not ideal. SLC is the least Mormon part of Utah. You should be comparing entire states, not just the cities. You should also be comparing the actual religion, and not just blanketing all of them into one. Apples to apples.
Utah has at least 5,229 LDS churches, and 24 temples (which are reserved only for the members with temple recommends). Not counting those temples, Utah has roughly 1 church for every 652 people. Not everyone is Mormon, the vast majority are though. If we only count church members, this goes to 1:411. This is all state wide. No individual cities, and it's one religious organization (I prefer corporation).