Tis the season for giving. And the latest World Giving Index shows that Americans are among the world’s most generous people, ranking No. 5 out of 140 countries. U.S. donors in 2016 gave more than $389 billion to charity, with 72 percent of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.
But Americans do more than reach in their pockets to help others. They also contribute their time — and plenty of it. Nearly 63 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 7.9 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $184 billion of service.
Not everyone is equally selfless, however. In the spirit of inspiring altruism, WalletHub determined the most charitable of the 50 states by comparing them across 14 key indicators of charitable behavior. Our data set ranges from volunteer rate to share of income donated to share of sheltered homeless. Read on for our findings, additional commentary from our panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.
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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.
Most Charitable States in America
| Overall Rank* | State | Total Score | ‘Volunteering & Service’ Rank | ‘Charitable Giving’ Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 76.90 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | Maryland | 74.14 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 72.83 | 9 | 3 |
| 4 | Wyoming | 71.23 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 71.13 | 2 | 18 |
| 6 | Washington | 70.51 | 6 | 12 |
| 7 | Virginia | 69.66 | 16 | 7 |
| 8 | South Dakota | 69.35 | 1 | 37 |
| 9 | Georgia | 69.20 | 29 | 2 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 69.11 | 5 | 19 |
| 11 | Connecticut | 68.96 | 14 | 10 |
| 12 | Kansas | 68.26 | 20 | 9 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | 67.70 | 4 | 29 |
| 14 | Oregon | 67.53 | 12 | 21 |
| 15 | New York | 66.91 | 33 | 6 |
| 16 | Ohio | 65.70 | 18 | 25 |
| 17 | North Dakota | 65.28 | 10 | 39 |
| 18 | Missouri | 65.16 | 27 | 15 |
| 19 | South Carolina | 65.10 | 32 | 14 |
| 20 | Nebraska | 65.07 | 13 | 33 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 64.32 | 23 | 23 |
| 22 | Delaware | 64.30 | 11 | 42 |
| 23 | Idaho | 63.73 | 21 | 30 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | 63.46 | 24 | 28 |
| 25 | Arkansas | 63.34 | 40 | 11 |
| 26 | Colorado | 63.32 | 36 | 17 |
| 27 | Maine | 63.21 | 17 | 41 |
| 28 | North Carolina | 63.09 | 35 | 20 |
| 29 | Illinois | 62.99 | 37 | 16 |
| 30 | Alabama | 62.93 | 47 | 5 |
| 31 | New Jersey | 62.65 | 31 | 27 |
| 32 | Iowa | 62.48 | 22 | 34 |
| 33 | Vermont | 61.90 | 19 | 46 |
| 34 | Alaska | 61.37 | 26 | 40 |
| 35 | Massachusetts | 61.24 | 46 | 13 |
| 36 | West Virginia | 61.02 | 15 | 49 |
| 37 | Mississippi | 60.60 | 41 | 24 |
| 38 | Indiana | 60.50 | 28 | 43 |
| 39 | Michigan | 60.35 | 42 | 22 |
| 40 | New Mexico | 60.21 | 25 | 47 |
| 41 | Kentucky | 60.20 | 38 | 32 |
| 42 | Montana | 58.65 | 39 | 38 |
| 43 | California | 58.53 | 45 | 26 |
| 44 | Florida | 58.20 | 43 | 36 |
| 45 | Texas | 57.37 | 34 | 48 |
| 46 | Arizona | 56.56 | 30 | 50 |
| 47 | Louisiana | 56.22 | 48 | 35 |
| 48 | Nevada | 56.09 | 44 | 45 |
| 49 | Rhode Island | 55.15 | 50 | 31 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 54.92 | 49 | 44 |
*No. 1 = Most Charitable
