Arkansas is now the top state for religious liberty
Last year, American Habits devoted an entire issue to religious liberty in the states. The newest rankings from First Liberty Institute offer an encouraging example of how quickly states can strengthen what America’s founders rightly called our first freedom.
Arkansas now ranks No. 1 in the nation, scoring 89.2 percent on First Liberty’s 2026 Religious Liberty in the States index. The index examines 50 legal protections across 20 safeguards involving education, health care, family life, economic activity and religious practice. Arkansas climbed six places from last year and became one of only two states to receive the index’s new “excellent” rating.
Last year, Florida held the top spot, dropping to No. 3 in 2026. Tennessee ranks No. 2, while Vermont and New York ranked at the very bottom.
Much of Arkansas’s rise is credited to Act 677, signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2025. The law protects individuals, businesses and religious organizations from discriminatory state action based on their religious beliefs about marriage or biological sex. It builds upon Arkansas’ 2023 Conscience Protection Act and other protections for religious exercise.
“Our rights come from God, not government,” Sanders said in announcing the top ranking.
Arkansas’ rise illustrates federalism at its best. The First Amendment establishes a national guarantee of religious freedom, but states do not have to treat that protection as a ceiling. They can enact stronger safeguards for people whose faith and conscience are tested in everyday life.
States, no less than the federal government, must remain vigilant and willing to act in defense of our first freedom.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat