Maryland is the fourth most charitable state in the country, according to WalletHub’s recently released Most Charitable States for 2024 list. The state of Utah ranked number one.
U.S. donors gave more than $500 billion to charity in 2022, with 64% of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.
Americans also volunteer their time as well. The article reports that “nearly 61 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 4.1 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $122.9 billion of service.”
To determine the most philanthropic states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions, “Volunteering & Service” and “Charitable Giving.”
The two dimensions were evaluated using 19 key metrics and were were graded on a 100-point scale. A score of 100 represents the “most charitable.” The methodology section of the article lists the 19 key metrics. The data set ranges from the volunteer rate to the share of income donated to the share of sheltered homeless.
WalletHub then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score.
Maryland ranked tenth for volunteering and service; and second for charitable giving. The weighted average of the study placed the state fourth overall.
The top ten states (in order) are: Utah, Wyoming, Minnesota, Maryland, Maine, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Oregon, South Dakota, and Ohio.
The Montgomery County Volunteer Center has information for anyone interested in volunteering opportunities around the county this holiday season.
