Utah, Oregon Get High Philanthropy Grades

Utah and Oregon were among the most charitable states in the union, according to a study by Wallethub.

Utah ranked as the most charitable, with an overall score of 72.27. The Beehive State ranked No. 2 for volunteering and service, behind only Oregon, and No. 9 for charitable giving.

Minnesota ranked second overall, with a score of 71.51, ranking No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, for volunteering and service, and charitable giving, followed by Maryland at 70.08. Maryland ranked No. 5 for volunteering and service and No. 6 for charitable giving. Rounding out the top five for overall scores was Oregon, 67.84, and Ohio, 66.29.

No. 1 for charitable giving was New York, followed by Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota and Massachusetts. In the dimension of volunteering and service, after Oregon and Utah, the top five included Minnesota, North Dakota and Maryland.

The Southwest did not represent very well among the 50 states, with two states at the bottom of the rankings. Arizona, ranked No. 50 overall, with a score of 46.98; 43rd in volunteering and service and 50th in charitable giving. New Mexico ranked No. 49, with an overall score of 47.28, ranking 48th for volunteering and service, and 49th for charitable giving.

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To determine the most philanthropic states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two dimensions, “Volunteering and Service” and “Charitable Giving,” using 19 key metrics. The metrics included data points, such as, share of income donated, share of population donating time, share of population donating money and on the volunteering side, volunteer rate, share of population who do favors for their neighbors and share of population fundraising or selling items to raise money.

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “most charitable.” Each state’s weighted average across all metrics was determined by calculating its overall score and using the resulting scores to rank each state. 

This article first ran at The NonProfit Times. It is reprinted with permission.