Think you know who the most generous Americans are? If you guessed wealthy folks who voted for Obama (and by association his bigger government policies), you’d be wrong. As The Washington Examiner’s T. Becket Adams reports:
The wealthy in America gave less to charity in 2012 than they did in 2006, while those with lower incomes gave more, according to a new report from the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
And there’s more: Not only did poor Americans give more in 2012 than they did before the Great Recession, but the bulk of donations in the U.S. came from states that voted for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Meanwhile, the seven worst states for charitable donations voted to re-elect President Obama.
What’s more, Becket added, states that top the list for citizens who identify themselves as religious also top the charitable giving list. The top 10 most generous states, defined in terms of the share of income donated to charity not sheer dollar amounts, are:
1. Utah
2. Mississippi
3. Alabama
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia
6. South Carolina
7. Idaho
8. Oklahoma
9. Arkansas
10. North Carolina