Most Charitable States for 2022

’Tis the season for giving, and the latest World Giving Index shows that the United States is falling behind – dropping to 19th place among the most generous countries after years at the top of the list. However, U.S. donors in 2020 still gave more than $471 billion to charity, with 69% of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.

Americans do more than just reach in their pockets to help others, though. They also contribute their time — and plenty of it. Over 77 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 6.9 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $167 billion of service.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted some volunteer opportunities last year and this year, it hasn’t stopped people from giving. In fact, last year’s total giving was actually 5.1% more than in 2019. In the spirit of inspiring altruism, WalletHub determined the most charitable of the 50 states by comparing them across 19 key indicators of charitable behavior. Our data set ranges from the volunteer rate to the share of income donated to the share of sheltered homeless.

Want to give back instead of receiving this holiday season? Use WalletHub’s Charity Calculator to help you determine how best to pitch in, depending on your resources and availability. You can also see where your money will be used most effectively by reading WalletHub’s report on Best Charities for 2022.

Main Findings

Most Charitable States in America

*No. 1 = Most Charitable
With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Red States vs. Blue States

Ask the Experts

Not all charities are created equal. Choosing among them — in addition to deciding whether to give money, time or both and how much — can be a challenge. To help donors plan ahead and to provide insight on various charity issues, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:

1. What are the biggest challenges facing U.S.-based charities in the current economic environment?
2. What percentage of income should households donate to charity?
3. What advice do you have for choosing the right charity?
4. Do you believe charities should face increased regulations and scrutiny in order to reduce fraud?
5. Should all non-profits be able to receive tax-deductible contributions regardless of their mission?

Ask the Experts

Dyana Mason
MBA, Ph.D. – Associate Professor; Director, Master of Nonprofit Management; Affiliated Faculty, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy and Management – University of Oregon
Read More

Salvatore Alaimo
Ph.D. – Associate Professor, School of Public, Nonprofit and Health Administration – Grand Valley State University
Read More

Erica Mills Barnhart
MPA – Associate Teaching Professor, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance – University of Washington
Read More

Methodology

In order to determine the most philanthropic states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions, “Volunteering & Service” and “Charitable Giving.”

We evaluated those dimensions using 19 key metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “most charitable.”

Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

Volunteering & Service – Total Points: 50

• Volunteer Rate: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Volunteer Retention Rate: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Volunteer Hours per Capita: Triple Weight (~12.50 Points)
• Community-Service Requirement for High School Graduation: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Share of Population Who Do Favors for Their Neighbors: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Amount of Money that People Would Lend Their Neighbors in Need: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Food: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Clothes: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Share of Population Fundraising or Selling Items to Raise Money: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)
• Share of Residents Who Engage in General Labor (Supply Transportation for People): Full Weight (~4.17 Points)

Charitable Giving – Total Points: 50

• Share of Income Donated: Double Weight (~11.11 Points)
  Note: “Income” refers to aggregate gross income.
• Share of Population Donating Time: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
  Note: “Donors” refers to the share of the population who claim to have donated time.
• Share of Population Donating Money: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
  Note: “Donors” refers to the share of taxpayers who donated money to charity and the percentage of the population who claim to have donated money.
• Public Charities per Capita: Half Weight (~2.78 Points)
  Note: “Public Charities” is based on the Internal Revenue Service’s definition of the term. Among others, these charities include “churches, hospitals, qualified medical research organizations affiliated with hospitals, schools, colleges and universities.” They do not include private foundations, most of which do not engage in “the direct operation of charitable programs.” However, religious organizations were included in the data for the following reasons: 1) the available data does not differentiate between secular charities and religious organizations, and 2) many donors and volunteers consider their contributions to such entities as “charitable giving.”
• 4-Star Charities per Capita: Half Weight (~2.78 Points)
• Charity Regulations: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
• Google Search Interest for “Charitable Donations”: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the real intent of the population to find information using the following search terms: “volunteer”, “non profit organizations”, “charity”, “charitable donations” and “charitable organizations”. “Real intent” is measured using the average monthly search volumes for those specific terms.
• ‘Feeding America’ Food Banks per Capita: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
• Share of Sheltered Homeless: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)

 
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Corporation for National & Community Service, Education Commission of the States (ECS), Fraser Institute, Cogency Global, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Internal Revenue Service, Feeding America, Charity Navigator, Windows USA, Google Ads and Gallup.

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