As we approach the day of the year centered around charitable giving, it’s time to take a break from Kansas sports betting and check which states lend a helping hand more than their peers.
With Giving Tuesday slated to return on Nov. 29, and hundreds of thousands of Americans donating money to the charity of their choice, BetKansas.com took a look at where the Sunflower State stacks up when it comes to its philanthropic endeavors.
Thanks to many Americans writing off their charitable contributions on their yearly tax returns, we can gather data and compare how the various states of this country stack up by that metric.
We can also see that the folks of Kansas do their fair share to help those in need.
Using historical data from the Internal Revenue Service, BetKansas determined the average charitable contribution deduction (Amount / Number of Contributions) and the average total income (Amount / Number of Incomes Reported) in each state in the 2019 tax year.
Then, BetKansas calculated how much of the average total income is donated to charity. Each state was ranked from most generous (1) to least generous (50) based on that percentage.
Here’s what we found for the Sunflower State when it comes to philanthropic activities.
U.S. States Charitable Contributions
Kansas Among the Most Charitable States in America
The state of Kansas ranked ninth in the nation when it comes to average charitable contribution and percentage of income donated to charities.
Overall, Kansans donated $17,866 on average, ranking behind only Wyoming ($54,107), South Dakota ($28,542), North Dakota ($24,571), Arkansas ($22,671), Utah ($20,492), Tennessee ($19,631), Florida ($18,440), and Oklahoma ($17,870).
Kansas ranked just ahead of Texas ($17,743), Nebraska ($16,957), New York ($15,936), Missouri ($15,711), Georgia ($15,665) and Vermont ($15,254), in terms of amount donated to charity on a statewide average basis.
The national average for charitable giving was $13,221 during the year in question, meaning the Sunflower State went well above and beyond national peers by that metric.
(Remember, it's important to note that these numbers are significantly affected by the top tax bracket in each given state, meaning the typical Kansas resident likely isn't donating that high of an amount in a given year).
The bottom state for charitable contributions on a money basis was Hawaii, at $7,027, followed by Oregon ($8,232), Rhode Island ($8,443), New Jersey ($8,735), and Maryland ($8,876).
Numbers Game
When it comes to percentage of income donated to charity, Kansas’ 25.5% of the state’s average total income of $70,040 ranked behind Wyoming (63.6%), South Dakota (41.9%), Arkansas (38%), North Dakota (32.2%), Tennessee (29.3%), Oklahoma (28.6%), Mississippi (27.7%), Utah and Alabama (27% each).
The states that Kansas ranked ahead of on a percentage basis included Nebraska (24.6%), Florida and New Mexico (24.4%), Texas (23.9%), Missouri (23.7%) and Indiana (23%).
The national average for percentage of annual income donated to charity was 17.1%, with New Jersey ranking dead-last by that metric, at 9.2% of the $94,117 average.
Rounding out the bottom five, along with the Garden State, were Rhode Island (11.7%), Oregon (11.3%), Maryland (10.5%) and Hawaii (10%).
With the time of the season for giving around the corner, at least Kansans can be rest assured that their in-state brethren are more than capable of rising to the challenge and helping those in need when it matters most.
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