Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction is also the nation’s most religiously diverse county, according to a new analysis by a nonprofit research group.
Montgomery County enjoys the greatest mix of religions and denominations of any county in the country, according to 2023 data from the Public Religion Research Institute. Rounding out the institute’s top five: Kings and Nassau counties, New York; Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; and Contra Costa County, California.
Christians, Jews and Muslims account for the bulk of faiths practiced in Montgomery County, which also has high concentrations of Hindus, Buddhists and other minority religions, compared to the rest of the nation, the institute reported.
Ananda Vrindavan, president of Iskcon of DC, a Krishna community in Potomac, said she's felt the personal impact of living within a complex fabric of religious worldviews. Being able to engage with others in different faith communities has been an inspiration, urging her to deepen her own faith, she said.
“There are threads of similarity throughout all our different scriptures, so even though we have different languages and different rituals, we find connection,” Ms. Vrindavan told the Washington Times. “It's not about us and them anymore. It's about us and us, with respect and appreciation.”
Ari Elfasi, director of finance at Jewish Rockville Outreach Center, was born and raised in Montgomery County, and has lived there for 19 years. Upon learning that his county is the most religiously diverse, he said he was far from surprised.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have engaged with so many kinds of people from all over the world coalescing,” Mr. Elfasi said. “It’s not something that you find throughout America.”
Ms. Vrindavan noted that interfaith and intercultural communities have sprung up organically in the county as a result of the close quarters. She’s a member of one herself — the Potomac Area Interfaith Communities, which meets in Potomac Village and hosts an ecumenical Thanksgiving prayer service each year, encouraging each tradition to share a prayer or song in gratitude to God.
More than 14 faith communities participate in the interfaith group, creating a tension that Ms. Vrindavan says does nothing to dilute individual faith experiences but, rather, deepens them.
“The fruits of honoring diversity not only invites openness to learning and spiritual exploration, but such experiences bring broad-mindedness and a sense that we all belong, that one is not better than the other,” she said. “When we can appreciate each other in that way, God is certainly pleased.”
Another key aspect of the jurisdiction’s culture of religious dialogue is safety. Dr. Kiranpreet Khosa, chairwoman of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Rockville, told The Times the broad swath of viewpoints allows for more comfortable self-expression within her Sikh community.
“As practicing Sikhs, keeping uncut hair and wearing a head covering are the part of the central tenets. And our congregation, including children in the school systems, don’t face resistance in the way less diverse communities may,” said Dr. Khosa, a gastroenterologist.
Safety, for her, also means protection from physical threats: Montgomery County’s religious minorities have seen targeted burglaries over the past couple of years.
In 2024 alone, at least five houses of worship — two mosques, two Buddhist temples and a Hindu temple — were burglarized in what police believe to be attacks targeting faith centers. In one incident, robbers stole $20,000 of donations and valuable papers from the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in Silver Spring.
In response to similar crimes last year, the county awarded $900,000 in security grants to nonprofits and religious centers considered in need of bolstered security.
But it isn’t just religious safety that makes the Montgomery County religious ecosystem what it is. Economic opportunities are a major consideration, too, according to Dr. Khosa, who notes that the jurisdiction’s proximity to Washington, D.C., likely plays a large role in driving this level of multifaith citizenry.
“Employment opportunities, government affiliated positions and cultural diversity in the capital also attracts [religious diversity],” she told the Times.
As for the future of Montgomery County’s interfaith unity, Dr. Khosa said she doesn’t see an end in sight, so long as groups continue to work together peacefully in support of shared goals.
“I’d advise other religious minority group leaders to collaborate with each other to help bring the change at the civic level that’s needed to help support growing communities,” she said.
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