It’s time for Maryland residents to get in the holiday spirit.
We're taking a break from sports betting in Maryland and taking a hard look at states' philanthropic efforts across the U.S.
Ten years ago, Giving Tuesday was created to counteract the spending of shopping holidays – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – with an effort to give to charities in need, via individual contributions and philanthropic donations.
On Giving Tuesday (Nov. 29), hundreds of thousands of Americans will donate money to the charitable organization(s) of their choice. Many write their charitable contributions off as deductions during tax season, which allows us to see just how much Americans are giving, and from which states the most donations come.
Using this data, we can compare the ratio of the average charitable contribution to the average income in each state and use the ratio to determine which states have the most (or least) generous citizens.
Using historical data from the Internal Revenue Service, BetMaryland.com 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, BetMaryland.com 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.
The result for Maryland? Well, it's not pretty.
U.S. States Charitable Contributions
Maryland Near Bottom of Most Generous States
The Old Line State may be too keyed in on the pending arrival of online Maryland sports betting apps, as Maryland finished third worst with only 10.5% of income directed toward charity.
The average charitable contribution ($8,876) was the fifth least generous amount, higher than only Hawaii ($7,027), New Jersey ($8,735), Oregon ($8,232) and Rhode Island ($8,443).
(Note, these numbers are significantly affected by the top tax bracket in each given state, meaning the typical Maryland resident likely isn't donating that high of an amount in a given year).
Who Topped the List?
The top five states that are the most generous: Wyoming ($54,107 average charitable contribution), South Dakota ($28,542), North Dakota ($24,571), Arkansas ($22,671) and Utah ($20,492).
With the nation’s economy struggling as it is on a daily basis, this trend in Maryland could continue.
Give what you can Marylanders, but maybe just dig a bit deeper?
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