A study released today shows that Americans making more than $200,000 donated almost 5 percent less to charity in 2012 than they did in 2006.
According to the report by The Chronicle of Charity, as economic conditions improved after the recession, “poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less. At the same time … wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of income they gave to charity declined.”
Using IRS data to track donations at the state, county, metropolitan, and ZIP code levels, the richest Americans donated 4.6 percent less of their income while those making less than $100,000 increased their donations by 4.5 percent.
The states showing the highest increase in the amount given to philanthropic causes were Nevada, Idaho, Georgia, Connecticut, and Florida. Utah was the most generous state overall, with residents donating $65.60 out of every $1,000 earned. New Hampshire was by far the least generous, with only $17.40 for every $1,000 going to charity.
The report also found that 36 of the country’s 50 largest cities saw “declines in their rate of giving.”
Out of the top 10 cities with the highest percentage of income going to charity, eight were in the south: Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Jacksonville, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Charlotte, and Virginia Beach.
The four top cities “as measured by total income – Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC – each experienced declines in how much residents gave as a percentage of their income.”
