Oregon Ranked Among Most Charitable States in U.S.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017
GoLocalPDX News Team

Oregon is ranked among the most charitable states in the U.S. 

According to a recent study done by WalletHub, Oregon is ranked as the 14th most charitable state in the country. 

“The latest World Giving Index shows that Americans are among the world’s most generous people, ranking No. 5 out of 140 countries. U.S. donors in 2016 gave more than $389 billion to charity, with 72 percent of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust,” said WalletHub.Oregon’s Rankings:

12th Best - Volunteering & Service

21st Best - Charitable

The Rankings 

Oregon is ranked behind Kansas and New Hampshire, who rank 12th and 13th respectively.

Oregon is ranked ahead of New York and Ohio, who rank 15th and 16th respectively.

Hawaii is ranked as the least charitable state.

Utah is ranked as the most charitable state in the U.S.

See the Full Rankings in the Map Below

The Method

In order to determine the most philanthropic states, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across two key dimensions, including “Volunteering & Service” and “Charitable Giving”.

They evaluated those dimensions using 14 key metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights.

Finally, they determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

Volunteering & Service – Total Points: 50

• Volunteer Rate: Full Weight (~5.88 Points)
• Volunteer Retention Rate: Full Weight (~5.88 Points)
• Volunteer Hours per Capita: Triple Weight (~17.65 Points)
• Community-Service Requirement for High School Graduation: Full Weight (~5.88 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Food: Full Weight (~5.88 Points)
• Share of Population Collecting/Distributing Clothes: Full Weight (~5.88 Points)
• Share of Population Fundraising or Selling Items to Raise Money: Half Weight (~2.94 Points)

Charitable Giving – Total Points: 50

• Share of Income Donated: Double Weight (~17.39 Points)
• Share of Population Donating Time: Full Weight (~8.70 Points)
• Share of Population Donating Money: Full Weight (~8.70 Points)
• Public Charities per Capita: Half Weight (~2.17 Points)
• Charity Regulations: Full Weight (~4.35 Points)
• ‘Feeding America’ Food Banks per Capita: Full Weight (~4.35 Points)
• Share of Sheltered Homeless: Full Weight (~4.35 Points)