Using 19 measures to determine the most charitable state in the U.S., a new WalletHub study found that Utah ranked No. 1 for the third straight year.
On Tuesday, WalletHub released its latest study on the most and least charitable states in the U.S. The 19 metrics used to measure each state were broadly included under the categories of “Volunteering & Service” along with “Charitable Giving.”
WalletHub measured indicators like volunteer rate, volunteer hours per capita, charities per capita, Google search interest and other behavior indicators. Each state was graded based on a 100-point scale and the weighted average was used to determine the most and least charitable state.
While Utah ranked the highest in the study, Arizona ranked the lowest. Notably, Utah had the highest volunteer rate and the highest percentage of donated income. Overall for volunteering and service, Oregon ranked highest while Utah was second. California ranked last for that metric. For the overall category of charitable giving, New York was first, Utah was fourth and Arizona ranked last.
This study also measured whether blue states are more charitable than red states, designating a state as “red” or “blue” based on how that state voted during the 2020 presidential election. It found that on average, blue states tend to be more charitable than red states.
Brigham Young University professor Robert K. Christensen said that the amount of donations does depend on the general economic situation in the country.
“That said, donations are somewhat sensitive to the strength of the stock market,” Christensen told WalletHub. “General economic confidence is an important factor that U.S.-based charities should consider in predicting donations.”
Do other studies show Utah as the most charitable state in the U.S.?
Utah has ranked as No. 1 before. In studies by WalletHub from 2020 and 2021, Utah also ranked as the most charitable state in the country. An analysis reported on by CNN Money from 2012 put Utah in the No. 1 spot as well. This analysis measured the amount of discretionary income each state donated and showed that Utahns donate 10.6% of their discretionary income.