Study ranks Arizona the fourth least charitable state

Arizona ranks just 47th on the list of most charitable states in a new WalletHub study.

Dec 9, 2015, 5:45 AM

In this Nov. 15, 2014 photo, 92 year-old Salvation Army bell ringer Esther Rahenkamp, of Avon Park, Fla., greets shoppers at NorthPark Mall in Davenport, Iowa, standing next to a 700-pound donation kettle. Since 2001, Rahenkamp has lived in central Florida but comes back to the Quad-Cities each year with the help of Maj. Gary Felton, a good friend and local Salvation Army coordinator, to take up her post as bell ringer -- often as much as eight hours per day, six days per week. (AP Photo/The Dispatch, Gary Krambeck)

(AP Photo/The Dispatch, Gary Krambeck)

‘Tis the season for giving, but Arizonans apparently haven’t gotten that memo.

Arizona ranks just 47th on the list of most charitable states in a new WalletHub study.

“(Arizona is) ranked top 20 in terms of the percentage of taxpayers that actually did donate money to charity in 2014 at about 24 percent,” said Jill Gonzalez with WalletHub.

It goes deeper than just dropping a dollar or two into the Salvation Army can in front of your favorite retailer. Gonzalez said only three states are less generous than Arizona.

“According to a Gallup poll, only about 35 percent of the population there (Arizona) has donated time. (For) comparison’s sake, Utah is more like 60 percent, and I think one of the reasons there is it also has one of the lowest number of public charities per capita,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said there are fewer churches, schools and medical research organizations here than in other places, so it is not that Arizonans are necessarily stingy.

“If you look at the states that do have a lot of public charities — Utah, a lot of southern states, a lot of them having to deal with church or religious affiliations,” Gonzalez said. “So because people feel like they’re really connected to a specific organization, they see the effect they’re having locally, that’s what increasing both dollars and time spent there on dollars and charities.”

WalletHub’s in-depth analysis used 8 key metrics such as the percentage of taxpayers who donated to charity, the volunteer rate and growth in charitable giving.

Gonzalez said Rhode Island is the least generous state. Utah is the most.

KTAR’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.