Study: Red States Give More to Charity Than Blue States

Red states give more money to charity than blue states, according to a new report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The study measured gifts to charity by taxpayers who itemized deductions on their tax forms.

The Chronicle compared states’ giving habits to how they voted in the 2012 presidential election. They found that the 17 most generous states voted for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, while the seven least generous states voted for President Obama.

According to the Chronicle, “Americans give, on average, about 3 percent of their income to charity, a figure that has not budged significantly for decades.” Americans gave $77.5 billion to charity in 2012 (adjusted for inflation).

The most generous state in the union is Utah, where residents gave an average of 6.56 percent of their income. Utah is also home to Millard County, the most generous county, and Salt Lake City, the most generous city.

The next four most generous states are Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.

The Washington Post notes that several of the most generous states–Mississippi, Utah and Alabama–correlate with a Gallup poll about the states with the most “religious devotion.”

The least generous state is New Hampshire, where residents gave an average of 1.74 percent of their income.

In addition to New Hampshire, the least generous states are Maine, Vermont, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The most generous ZIP code in the United States is 96015, in Canby, Calif., where those who filed itemized tax returns gave an average of 18 percent of their incomes.