Nearly half of all Americans say grace before meals, according to a new poll.

The poll by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that half of all Americans still like to pray over their food before they eat.

The poll found that saying grace crossed all divides, and was common among Americans in both town and country, from north and south, across Christian denominations and across all political parties. Even some non-religious people admitted they like to say grace.

However, more Republicans say grace regularly than Democrats – 62 per cent compared to 43 per cent.

'It's a powerful way of reminding yourself that you are not self-sufficient, that you are living by somebody's grace, that plenty of other people who work just as hard as you don't have anything to eat,' Tim Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, told The Washington Post.

Nearly half say grace several times a week. More than half in town and country say grace regularly. 

The study also shows that 62 percent of Republicans say grace at least a few times a week, but the percentage decreases to 43 among Democrats and 41 among independents.

In addition a few more Protestants than Catholics say grace a few times a week or more – six out of ten compared to about five out of ten. 

The aim of the poll of more than 1,600 people was to examine the views and experiences of people living in small towns and rural areas across the United States, and how they are similar or different from those in urban and suburban settings.

In part, the survey was designed to shed light on the political views of those living in rural counties where Donald Trump scored a 26-percentage-point victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, a substantial increase from Mitt Romney's 16-point margin over Barack Obama in 2012.

The survey was designed to gauge rural Americans' views of their communities, their sense of shared values, their economic concerns and their views on issues of race and immigration.

Kaiser and The Post also conducted two focus groups with rural voters in Ashtabula County, Ohio; a Washington Post video compilation of the focus groups is available here.