Study: Utah Is Most Generous State, NH Is Least; Southern States More Generous in Charity Giving

A new study on the generosity of Americans suggests that states with the least religious residents are also the stingiest about giving money to charity, the Associated Press website reports today (August 20, 2012).

The study -- released today by the Chronicle of Philanthropy -- found that residents in states where religious participation is higher than the rest of the nation gave the greatest percentage of their discretionary income to charity (including churches).

The Northeast -- with lower religious participation -- was the least generous to charities, with the six New England states filling the last six slots among the 50 states. The most generous state was Utah, where residents gave 10.6 percent of their discretionary income to charity. The least generous was New Hampshire, at 2.5 percent.

Of the 10 least generous states, nine voted for Democrat Barack Obama for president in the last election. By contrast, of the 10 most generous states, eight voted for Republican John McCain.