At the 2018 Annual Conference session in June, attendees participated in a statistics quiz that was both fun and informative. (Take the quiz here.) 

Participants were invited to submit any additional questions they have to Statistician Joy Mueller; here's one:  

QUESTION: How many people are members of United Methodist churches in each New England state? And as a follow-up, what percentage of each state’s population are United Methodists? 

ANSWER: The chart below gives data from the 2017 statistical reports and the U.S. Census Bureau that help answer these questions. At the close of 2017, there were 592 churches in the New England Conference. The total professing membership for all churches was 78,982 people. 
 

Have a question for the statistician? Email it to Joy Mueller at joyemueller@comcast.net

The U.S. Census Bureau provides population estimates for people over the age of 18 in each state. Although, this doesn’t directly correspond to the ages represented in our membership (we have professed members who are under the age of 18), it gives us a rough measure of percentage of the population. 

The number of United Methodist members ranges from 5,148 in Rhode Island to 31,554 in Massachusetts. The estimate for the percentage of state population who are members of a United Methodist Church ranges from 0.6% in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to 1.8% in Vermont.
Additional questions can be submitted to the statistician by emailing Joy Mueller at joyemueller@comcast.net

State	Number of Churches	Total Membership	State Population (Over 18 years of age) *	Estimated Percentage of State Population who are members of United Methodist Church
CT**	31	5,440
MA	186	31,554	5,487,847	0.6%
ME	154	16,766	1,083,421	1.5%
NH	83	10,723	1,083,636	1.0%
RI	22	5,148	851,950	0.6%
VT	116	9,351	507,033	1.8%
New England Conference	592	78,982
* State Populations from U.S. Census Bureau - Resident Population Quick Facts
** New England Conference covers only a portion of Connecticut (east of the Connecticut River).