Most Charitable States

The latest World Giving Index shows that the United States is the sixth-most generous country in the world. U.S. donors gave nearly $560 billion to charity in 2023, with 67% of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the Giving USA.

Americans do more than just reach in their pockets to help others, though. They also contribute their time — and plenty of it. Nearly 61 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 4.1 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $122.9 billion in contributions.

In the spirit of inspiring altruism, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of charitable behavior to identify the most charitable areas of the country. Our data set ranges from the volunteer rate to the share of income donated to the number of food banks per capita.

You can check out the complete results below. You can also use WalletHub’s Charity Calculator to determine how best to pitch in yourself, depending on your resources and availability.

“The most charitable states aren’t just the places where people give the largest raw amounts of money. The share of the population contributing and the percentage of their individual incomes they’re willing to use to help others are big factors in showing how charitable people are. In addition, many people can’t afford to give much money, especially due to the influence of inflation, but they generously donate their time, which is just as important.”

Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

Main Findings

Most Charitable States in America

Notes: *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.

Volunteer Rate

Highest

• 1. Utah
• 2. Wyoming
• 3. Minnesota
• 4. Maine
• 5. South Dakota

Lowest

• T-45. Hawaii
• T-45. New Mexico
• 47. Alabama
• 48. California
• 49. Nevada
• 50. Florida

Best State vs. Worst State: 3x Difference

Utah vs. Florida

% of Donated Income

Highest

• T-1. Arkansas
• T-1. Wyoming
• T-1. Utah
• 4. South Dakota
• 5. New York

Lowest

• 46. Hawaii
• 47. Maine
• 48. Rhode Island
• 49. Alaska
• 50. West Virginia

Best State vs. Worst State: 7x Difference

Arkansas vs. West Virginia

% of Population Who Donate Time

Highest

• 1. Utah
• 2. Wyoming
• 3. Minnesota
• 4. Maine
• 5. South Dakota

Lowest

• 46. New Jersey
• 47. Hawaii
• 48. California
• 49. Nevada
• 50. Florida

Best State vs. Worst State: 3x Difference

Utah vs. Florida

% of Population Who Donate Money

Highest

• 1. Maryland
• 2. California
• 3. Utah
• 4. Virginia
• 5. New Jersey

Lowest

• 46. Ohio
• 47. Indiana
• 48. South Dakota
• 49. North Dakota
• 50. West Virginia

Best State vs. Worst State: 7x Difference

Maryland vs. West Virginia

% of Population Collecting/Distributing Food

Highest

• 1. North Dakota
• 2. Indiana
• 3. Ohio
• 4. South Dakota
• 5. Arkansas

Lowest

• 46. Colorado
• 47. Alaska
• 48. Arizona
• 49. New Mexico
• 50. Rhode Island

Best State vs. Worst State: 2x Difference

North Dakota vs. Rhode Island

Charities per Capita

Most

• T-1. Delaware
• T-1. Montana
• T-1. Vermont
• T-1. Wyoming
• 5. Maine

Fewest

• 46. Kentucky
• 47. New Mexico
• 48. Mississippi
• 49. Arizona
• 50. Utah

Best State vs. Worst State: 3x Difference

Delaware vs. Utah

Show More

An In-Depth Look at the Most Charitable States

Wyoming

Wyoming is the most charitable state, in large part because residents spend an average of 33 hours per year volunteering, the second-most in the country. The state also has the second-highest percentage of residents who volunteer, at roughly 39%.

Residents of the Equality State don’t just give their time, though. They generously give money to charity as well, donating nearly 4% of their adjusted gross income on average, the second-highest percentage in the country. Over 40% of the state’s population fundraises or sells items to raise money for charity, too, the ninth-highest percentage.

On top of that, Wyoming has the second-most Feeding America food banks per capita, and it shelters 89% of its homeless population. This reflects efforts to care for the needy at both the individual and government levels.

Utah

Utah is the second-most charitable state, boasting the highest volunteer rate at roughly 41% and the most volunteer hours per capita at around 38 hours. On top of volunteering for organizations, Utahans are also happy to do favors for their neighbors, with nearly 62% of the population reporting that they helped out with tasks like house sitting, watching children or lending tools at least once in the past year.

When it comes to giving money to charity, families in Utah step up to the plate by donating around 3.6% of their adjusted gross income, on average, the third-most in the country. The state also has the third-highest percentage of taxpayers who donate money to charity.

Minnesota

Minnesota is the third-most charitable state, with the third-highest share of the population that volunteers, at over 35%. Minnesota residents volunteer an average of 24 hours per year, the seventh-most in the country. In addition, around 62% of the population has done at least one favor for a neighbor in the past year, the fifth-highest percentage.

Minnesota residents are also generous when it comes to lending money. The average person would lend nearly $300 to a neighbor in need, which is more than people in all but two other states would lend.

Another way people in Minnesota demonstrate their interest in charity is through their Google searches. They have the third-highest Google search interest for the query “charity,” and the fourth-highest for “volunteer,” “non profit organizations,” “charitable donations” and “charitable organizations.”

Generosity of Red vs. Blue

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

Bob Spires
Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Graduate Education, School of Professional and Continuing Studies – University of Richmond
Read More

Brad R. Fulton
Associate Professor, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs – Indiana University
Read More

Kirsten Gronbjerg
Director, Indiana Nonprofits Project, Distinguished Professor Emerita, O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs – Indiana University Bloomington
Read More

Colin M. Slabach
Clinical Assistant Professor, Finance and Taxation, School of Professional Studies – New York University
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 17 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 (~5.00 Points)
• Volunteer Hours per Capita: Triple Weight (~15.00 Points)
• Share of Population Who Do Favors for Their Neighbors: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Amount of Money that People Would Lend Their Neighbors in Need: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Food: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Clothes: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Share of Population Fundraising or Selling Items to Raise Money: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Share of Population Who Engage in General Labor (Supply Transportation for People): Full Weight (~5.00 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.
• 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.”
• Top-Rated 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 as of October 14, 2024 from the U.S. Census Bureau, Harbor Compliance, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Internal Revenue Service, Feeding America, Windows USA, AmeriCorps, GreatNonprofits and Google Ads.

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