WACO (January 25, 2013)--The American Bible Society has ranked the nation's most, and least, "Bible-Minded Cities,” and Waco, the home of the world’s largest Southern Baptist University, is No. 59 on the 96-city list.

The ranking may be skewed, however, because the Bible society lumped Waco with Temple and Bryan, which combine to form the Central Texas media market as defined by the Nielsen rating service.

The society's Geoffrey Morin says the rankings are based on the percentage of citizens who read the Bible at least once a week and believe in the accuracy of the Scriptures.

Based on those criteria, he says the nation's most Bible-minded city is Knoxville, Tenn., followed by Shreveport, La.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; Springfield, Mo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Roanoke/Lynchburg, Va.; Huntsville, Ala.; and Charleston, W.Va.

The survey found the least Bible-minded city to be Providence, R.I., whose founder named it in honor of "God's merciful providence."

Others on the bottom of the list are Albany, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt.; Portland, Maine; Hartford, Conn.; Boston; San Francisco and Phoenix.