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- New York is the ninth most charitable state in the US.
- source
- Drew Angerer/Getty Images
- Some US states are more charitable than others.
- We ranked the states by how much residents making over $500,000 donated to charity in 2016, based on IRS data.
- Vermont is on the less charitable end of the spectrum, while Wyoming is the most charitable state.
Wealthy people live in every state in the US – but some states are more charitable than others.
The IRS publishes data about the number of people who itemize their tax returns every year, and how many people claim which deductions by state and by income bracket.
To arrive at the rankings, we looked at the people who itemized and made between $500,000 and $1 million, and more than $1 million in the year 2016 (the most recent one for which we have data). We looked at how many claimed the itemized deduction for charitable giving. The IRS also indicates how much money was claimed to be donated. Using that information, we could figure out the average claimed donation per $500,000+ income tax return per state.
Here, in ascending order, are the top 26 most charitable states plus Washington DC.
26: Illinois
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- Chicago, Illinois.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $62,328.16 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
25: Texas
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- Dallas, Texas.
- source
- mandritoiu/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $64,512.10 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%
24: Vermont
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- Montpelier, Vermont.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $65,926.79 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
23: Oregon
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- Portland, Oregon.
- source
- Josemaria Toscano/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $67,626.74 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%
22: Washington, DC
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- Washington, DC.
- source
- Orhan Cam/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $69,388.23 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
21: Colorado
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- Denver, Colorado.
- source
- f11photo/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $69,734.32 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
20: Massachusetts
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- Boston, Massachusetts.
- source
- Shutterstock/Danica Chang
Average annual charitable contribution: $72,307.18 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
19: Nebraska
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- Lincoln, Nebraska.
- source
- Christopher Boswellshutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $72,662.40 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 97%
18: Kansas
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- Wichita, Kansas.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $77,161.41 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 97%
17: Alabama
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- Montgomery, Alabama.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $77,645.15 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 97%
16: New Hampshire
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- Manchester, New Hampshire.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $ 79,648.31 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
15: Oklahoma
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- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- source
- Gau Meo/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $79,671.18 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%
14: Montana
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- Missoula, Montana.
- source
- Shutterstock/Keegan Connell
Average annual charitable contribution: $79,762.65 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
13: Missouri
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- St. Louis, Missouri.
- source
- Steven Liveoak/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $82,633.40 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
12: Tennessee
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- Nashville, Tennessee.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $83,978.81 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
11: Idaho
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- Boise, Idaho.
- source
- Charles Knowles/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $84,818.72 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
10: Florida
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- Miami, Florida.
- source
- Courtesy of TripAdvisor
Average annual charitable contribution: $87,203.13 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%
9: New York
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- New York, New York.
- source
- Stig Ottesen/Unsplash
Average annual charitable contribution: $88,230.77 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
8: California
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- Los Angeles, California.
- source
- Chones/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $ 89,606.70 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 92%
7: Nevada
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- Reno, Nevada.
- source
- Andrew Zarivny/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $97,608.10 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 92%
6: Utah
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- Salt Lake City, Utah.
- source
- f11photo/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $115,864.14 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
5: Georgia
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- Atlanta, Georgia.
- source
- SeanPavonePhoto / iStock
Average annual charitable contribution: $118,556.79 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%
4: Washington
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- Seattle, Washington.
- source
- Shutterstock/emperorcosar
Average annual charitable contribution: $145,061.53 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%
3: South Dakota
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- Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
- source
- Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $149,203.57 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 97%
2: Arkansas
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- Little Rock, Arkansas.
- source
- Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $203,171.10 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%
1: Wyoming
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- Jackson, Wyoming.
- source
- Jerry Sanchez/Shutterstock
Average annual charitable contribution: $ 223,438.62 Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%