Who Are The Most Generous Americans?

A recent report based on IRS data and put together by the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that Americans with incomes less than $100,000 annually give away a larger percentage of their income than those making $200,000 or more.

While the average American gives about 3 percent of his or her income to charity each year, poor and middle-income earners increased their giving by nearly 5 percent between 2006 and 2012.

Who among them give the most? Well, is it not surprising that the IRS data showed the following?

• Beyond income, church attendance is the factor most strongly indicative of giving rates.

• The highly faithful Utah is the most generous state, giving an average of 6.6 percent of income each year to charity,

• The more secular New England states like New Hampshire and Maine give 2 percent or less.

And as I have been saying the data has shown for years…

• The 17 most generous states all supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.

Meaning, once again, new data has shown that the mean horrible Republicans give a higher percentage of their income than the kind an gentle Democrats.

Interesting, is it not?