Alabama ranked first in the nation for religious freedom in the 2025 Faith and Freedom Index released on Monday by Napa Legal.
The third annual Faith and Freedom Index found that many states are hindering rather than helping religious organizations. However, states like Alabama and Kansas have exemplary protections for faith-based nonprofits that other states should emulate, according to the report.
"Alabama ranks #1 out of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions for its friendliness towards faith-based nonprofit organizations, making it one of the best places to operate a faith-based nonprofit in the United States," the report's authors said. "Alabama has several laws that facilitate the contributions of faith-based nonprofits, including 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."
"Additionally, Alabama does not impose audit requirements as a condition of maintaining authorization to fundraise in the state for those same organizations. Alabama, however, has some policies that are burdensome to faith-based nonprofits operating in the state, such as a broadly restrictive state Blaine Amendment and an imposition of state sales tax on religious organizations' sales and purchases," they added.
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