Survey: islam is county's fastest growing religion

Islam was the fastest growing religious group in San Diego County between 2000 and 2010, according to the recently released 2010 U.S. Religion Census. During the decade, the county’s Muslim population grew by 179 percent from 7,878 adherents to 21,994, according to estimates from the survey of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Islam is now the seventh-largest religion in the county, the survey found.

Only one other group grew more here, in overall numbers. The county’s Mormon community grew by 25,227 followers, an increase of 55 percent, making it the third-largest church in the county.

About one quarter of the county’s population is Catholic, making it the most popular religion despite the loss of 28,083 followers or 3.4 percent of its fellowship during the decade. The county had 801,850 Catholics in 2010, ahead of a religious group reported by the survey for the first time this year, a grouping of 148,930 nondenominational Christians which ranked second.

The growth of Islam here is unique among California’s largest counties, according to the report. Both as a percentage and overall number, San Diego County’s Muslim population increase was nearly double that of any of the state’s 10 largest counties, according to the survey. (...)