With Halloween officially in the rearview mirror, it’s officially the time of the season for giving to those in need. In other words, you have permission to take a break from Virginia sportsbooks.
As we approach Giving Tuesday on Nov. 29, with hundreds of thousands of Americans donating money to the charity of their choice, BetVirginia.com took a look at where the Old Dominion stacks up when it comes to its philanthropic endeavors.
Thanks to many Americans writing off their charitable contributions on their yearly tax returns, we can gather data and compare how the various states stack up by that metric and can see the folks of Virginia come up a tad short, compared to their national peers, when it comes to helping those in need.
Using historical data from the Internal Revenue Service, BetVirginia.com determined the average charitable contribution deduction (Amount / Number of Contributions) and the average total income (Amount / Number of Incomes Reported) in each state in the 2019 tax year.
Then, BetVirginia.com calculated how much of the average total income is donated to charity. Each state was ranked from most generous (1) to least generous (50) based on that percentage.
After all that number-crunching, here’s where the Old Dominion lines up when it comes to philanthropic activities.
U.S. States Charitable Contributions
Virginia Among the Least Charitable States in America
The state of Virginia ranked 45th in the nation when it comes to average charitable contribution and percentage of income donated to charities.
Overall, Virginians donated $9,892 on average, ranking behind more than 80% of the nation, including national leaders like Wyoming ($54,107), South Dakota ($28,542), North Dakota ($24,571), Arkansas ($22,671), and Utah ($20,492).
(Remember, it's important to note that these numbers are significantly affected by the top tax bracket in each given state, meaning the typical Virginia resident likely isn't donating that high of an amount in a given year).
Virginia wound up falling short by more than $3,000 from the national average for charitable giving ($13,221), during the year in question, meaning the Old Dominion lagged behind their national peers by a solid amount of money.
The bottom state for charitable contributions on a money basis was Hawaii, at $7,027, followed by Oregon ($8,232), Rhode Island ($8,443), New Jersey ($8,735), and Maryland ($8,876).
Ground To Make Up
When it comes to percentage of income donated to charity, Virginia’s 11.7% of the state’s average income of $84,375 ranked in a tie with Rhode Island for 45th in the nation.
The leading states, when it came to percentages, were Wyoming (63.6%), South Dakota (41.9%), Arkansas (38%), North Dakota (32.2%), Tennessee (29.3%), Oklahoma (28.6%), Mississippi ($27.7%), Utah and Alabama (27% each).
The states that Virginia ranked ahead of on a percentage basis were Oregon (11.3%), Maryland (10.5%), Hawaii (10%), and New Jersey ($9.2%).
The national average for percentage of annual income donated to charity was 17.1%, with the Garden State’s dead-last ranking coming from their average of $8,735 of giving on an average salary of $94,117.
With the time of the season for giving around the corner, Virginians can look at the numbers in question and know they need to step up to the plate to help those in need during the holiday season.
Then again, maybe state residents just aren't having much luck on VA sports betting apps.
