With Americans donating around $500 billion per year to charity, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Most Charitable States for 2024.
Generosity in South Dakota (1=Most Charitable; 25=Avg.):
- Overall rank for South Dakota: 9th
- 8th – Charities per Capita
- 3rd – % of Donated Income
- 5th – % of Population Who Donated Time
- 4th – % of Population Collecting/Distributing Food
- 5th – Volunteer Rate
- 11th – Volunteer Hours per Capita
Utah is the most charitable state in the country, according to a new report by the personal-finance website WalletHub. Wyoming, Minnesota, Maryland, and Maine ranked as the next most generous states. The report analyzed 19 key indicators of charitable behavior across two dimensions: volunteering/service and charitable giving.
“Utah had the highest volunteer rate at 40.7%, which was 2.6 times higher than the lowest rate of 15.9% for Florida,” said Cassandra Happe, WalletHub Analyst. “They also boasted the most volunteer hours per capita at 39.42 hours, which was 3.8 times more than Florida’s 10.31 volunteer hours per capita. These numbers are especially impressive considering Utah has the fewest charities per capita.”
Top 20 Most Charitable States
| 1. Utah | 11. Virginia |
| 2. Wyoming | 12. North Dakota |
| 3. Minnesota | 13. Colorado |
| 4. Maryland | 14. Illinois |
| 5. Maine | 15. Washington |
| 6. Delaware | 16. Missouri |
| 7. Pennsylvania | 17. Connecticut |
| 8. Oregon | 18. Nebraska |
| 9. South Dakota | 19. Georgia |
| 10. Ohio | 20. New Hampshire |
Each of the top states had their own strengths, according to Happe. “For example, Wyoming had the second-highest volunteer rate at 39.2%, but they also had the third highest number of Feeding America food banks per 1 million residents. Minnesota had the second-highest percentage of the population donating their time at 53%, while Maryland encourages volunteering in high school with their statewide requirement for community service. Maine had the fourth-highest volunteer rate at 34.9% and the third-highest amount of volunteering hours at 29.1 hours per resident aged 16 years and over.”
“Americans are donating less time and money to charitable causes. For instance, total volunteer hours dropped by 2.82 billion nationwide, a 40.7% decrease from the last survey period,” noted Happe. “People have busier schedules now and many are struggling to make ends meet with the cost of inflation, leaving them with less time and money available to donate.”
There are many organizations looking for donations of time, money or other resources, especially during the holiday season. “With nearly one million charities to choose from nationwide, deciding where to direct your donations to can be a challenge,” according to Happe.
