Arizona is the 5th least charitable state, study says

America is obsessed with being No. 1. It dominates in military power, economic prosperity, high technology, even movie blockbusters. Recently, its glorious résumé was freshened up with yet another impressive credential: The world’s most benevolent country of 2014, a title it shares with Myanmar.

With 30 percent of annual giving taking place in December, the leading personal finance social network WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2014’s Most & Least Charitable States. Unfortunately, Arizona ranked No. 46 out of the 50 states. Utah was ranked as the most charitable state.

Here is how Arizona ranked among states in generosity:

40th – Volunteer Rate
23rd – Percentage of Donated Income
46th – Percentage of Population Who Claim to Have Donated Time
35th – Percentage of Population Who Claim to Have Donated Money
19th – Percentage of Taxpayers Who Donated to Charity
29th – Median Contribution to Charity
47th – Number of Charities per Capita

As the Charities Aid Foundation reported in this year’s World Giving Index, the U.S. was the only nation to rank in the top 10 for each of the three charitable giving behaviors that are measured. It leads in “helping strangers,” jointly ranks fifth with three other countries in “volunteering time” and places ninth in “donating money.”

Just how generous are Americans? According to the National Philanthropic Trust, 95.4 percent of households donate to charities, with each contributing an annual average of $2,974. In 2013 alone, Americans gave more than $335 billion, 72 percent of which came directly from individuals. Of course, being charitable isn’t all about donating money to the needy. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nearly 63 million people volunteered with an organization at least once between September 2012 and September 2013.

In the spirit of inspiring more Americans to increase their charitable giving this holiday season, WalletHub aimed the spotlight at the most generous of the 50 states. It analyzed a total of eight key metrics, among which are volunteer rate, the percentage of the population who donated time and money, and the median contribution to charity. The finding can be seen here.