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Champagne over charity.
- Some rich Americans are more generous than others.
- 2016 tax returns indicate that the average person making more than $500,000 in the United States donated just under $74,000.
- But in states like Alaska and West Virginia, the average rich person donated much less.
The charitable spending habits of wealthy Americans vary greatly across the US.
The average person making over $500,000 in the United States donated just under $74,000, according to 2016 tax returns.
But in states like West Virginia, New Jersey, and Alaska, the rich tend to be less giving. The average charitable contribution in West Virginia was $31,314 last year.
Using IRS data, Business Insider ranked how charitable giving differs from state to state.
The IRS publishes data about the number of people who itemize their tax returns every year, and how many people claim which deductions by state and by income bracket.
To arrive at the rankings, we looked at the people who itemized and made between $500,000 and $1 million, and more than $1 million in the year 2016 (the most recent one for which we have data). We looked at how many claimed the itemized deduction for charitable giving. The IRS also indicates how much money was claimed to be donated. Using that information, we could figure out the average claimed donation per $500,000+ income tax return per state.
See where the least charitable rich in America live: