Nebraska's religious history derives from its patterns of immigration. German and Scandinavian settlers tended to be Lutheran; Irish, Polish, and Czech immigrants were mainly Roman Catholic. Methodism and other Protestant religions were spread by settlers from other Midwestern states.
Though Protestants collectively outnumber Catholics, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest single Christian denomination within the state with about 372,791 adherents. Lutherans constituted the largest Protestant group with 117,419 adherents of the Missouri Synod, 128,570 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and 5,829 of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. A total of 117,277 people were United Methodists and 39,420 were Presbyterians–USA. The Jewish population was estimated at 7,100 in 2000 and Muslims numbered about 3,115. There were 704,403 people (about 41% of the population) who were not counted as members of any religious organization.