Sydney and Brisbane top the list for Bible-engagement across Australia’s largest cities, with BibleGateway.com, a Bible reading site recording 2.67 page views per Sydney resident and 2.54 page views per Brisbane resident.

McCrindle Research combined BibleGateway.com data with Bureau of Statistics and National Christian Life Survey material to compare Australian Cities’ Bible reading habits. McCrindle’s rankings are based on the number of page views for each location divided by the city’s number of residents.

Other locations outside of Australia’s Top 11 Largest Cities that make it into the Top 15 Bible-engaged locations in Australia include Victoria Point in QLD, Armidale NSW, Launceston TAS, Moe VIC, Murray Bridge and Gawler in SA.

But it’s Richmond and Cranbourne, both suburbs of Melbourne, that bear the Australian record for Bible engagement (with 3.86 and 3.15 page views per resident).

The location in which Australians spend the most time on BibleGateway.com per visit are Warrnambool, Vic (13 minutes 40 seconds) and Albany, WA (11 minutes, 13 seconds).

Australians who access BibleGateway.com spend an average of 6 minutes and 57 seconds on the site per visit. Shortest visits were recorded in Wagga Wagga NSW, and Gladstone in QLD.

Australians are less engaged with their Bible reading than residents of the US and the UK. The Top 10 online Bible-reading cities in the US have an average of 14.2 page views per resident and the Top 10 in the UK an average of 11.5 page views per resident, compared to Australia’s Top 10 cities that average just 2.1 page views per resident.

The most-searched Bible verse in Australia in 2013 was John 3:16, followed by Jeremiah 29:11.