Barrow County Ranks 707 of 3,115 Counties in Study on Charitable Giving

Middle-income individuals gave more to charities in 2008 than wealthy people, and those in Republican-leaning states gave more than those in Democratic states, a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy finds.

The South is first among four regions studied by the Chronicle, giving an average of 5.2 percent of discretionary income to charity, compared with 4.1 percent in the Northeast.

Religious involvement plays a major role in charitable giving: When only donations to secular charities are counted, the Northeast leads, giving 1.4 percent of discretionary income to the South's 0.9 percent. (See the second PDF displayed to the right of this story's text.)

The charitable giving data, based on IRS records of Americans who itemized their deductions, is searchable down to the ZIP code level in the Chronicle of Philanthropy's interactive map.

According to the data, Barrow County's total contributions — all charitable donations claimed by taxpayers making $50,000 a year or more, as reported to the Internal Revenue Service on itemized tax returns — was $24.6 million. The median contribution — the amount of money donated by a typical household to charity, as reported to the Internal Revenue Service on itemized tax returns — was $2,335. 

Among the study's other key findings:

• The top eight states for charitable giving in 2008 voted for John McCain for president. Georgia ranks eighth on the overall list. (See the PDF displayed to the right of this story.)
• People who earned $50,000 to $70,000 a year gave an average of 7.6 percent of their discretionary income to charity, compared with 4.6 percent for people who made more than $100,000.
• States that offer tax incentives for charitable giving can increase total donations, often at no cost to the donor when the state provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits.

What do you think of the study's findings? How much do you give to charity? Tell us in comments.

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