Here are the parts of Missouri, Kansas — and America — that give the most to charity
Americans who itemized their tax returns gave about $250 billion, or 3.4% of their income, to charity in the 2017 tax year, but charitable giving varied significantly between states, according to new IRS statistics.
Charitable giving correlates strongly with religiosity: The states with the highest rates of giving tend to also have high rates of residents who say religion is very important to them.
Utah had the highest rate of charitable giving in the nation in 2017. A significant portion of its residents belong to the Mormon church, which emphasizes tithing, the practice of giving 10% of income to the church. Several states in the deep South, where evangelical churches also emphasize tithing, gave relatively large portions of their income to charity. The IRS classifies donations to churches as charity.
Charitable giving in Missouri
In Missouri, individuals and families who itemized their tax deductions gave about $4 billion, or 3.8% of their income, to charity.
Residents of Taney County, outside Branson, were the most generous, giving about $27 million, or 5.7% of their income, to charity. Residents of Jefferson County, outside St. Louis, were the stingiest, giving about 2.5% of their income.
Jackson County residents who itemized gave about 3.8% in 2017. Clay County residents gave about 2.9%.
Charitable giving in Kansas
In Kansas, individuals and families who itemized their tax deductions gave about $2 billion, or 4% of their income, to charity, a slightly higher percentage than in Missouri.
Kiowa County residents outside Dodge City were the most generous, giving about $1.4 million, or 7.6% of their income. The county seat there is Greensburg, which has been rebuilding after a devastating 2007 tornado.
Like Missouri, Kansas’ Jefferson County, near Topeka, is the stingiest, giving about 2.6% to charity.
Johnson County residents who itemized gave about 3.3% of their income to charity in 2017. Wyandotte County residents gave about 3.6% of their income. Leavenworth County residents gave about 3.2%.
Notes: This analysis only includes taxpayers who itemize their tax returns. Most tax filers making more than $75,000 a year itemized in 2017, and vice versa. That year, itemized tax returns accounted for about about two-thirds of the personal income reported to the IRS.
Since then, the tax law has changed so that fewer people itemize and take deductions for charitable giving.
