Apparently, New England is not only the land of pretty white churches and gorgeous fall leaves, we’re also the land of cheapskates. In Forbes Magazine’s survey of the habits of individual state’s charitable giving, New England states were in the bottom half of the survey. Oddly, the highest ranking New England state for charitable giving was Maine. Maine…the poorest New England state. I’m just saying…

In the study, which was adjusted for cost of living, the most generous states were Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota and Georgia. Wealthy people–those with incomes over $200,000–in those states gave 1.1% of their assets to charity, well above the national average of 0.7%.

The richest states, ironically, are among the stingiest. None of the ten richest states cracked the top 25 in giving percentage. California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas couldn’t match their neighbors who gave more with less.

New Hampster was at the very bottom of the pile at number 49. Now that doesn’t surprise me, seeing as they can’t even decide whether or not seatbelts are a personal freedom. Libertarians aren’t by nature very charitable, either economically or politically, and let’s face it, the Hamster state has never been known for it’s giving nature. “Live Free and Die Poor, What do We Care?” should be on their license plates. For shame, New Hampster.

New England, we can do better. We should do better. I challange you all to dig deeper into your pockets, not just during the holiday season, but all year long. Project Bread has recently reported that hunger in Massachusetts has doubled in the past 3 years. We’re a rich state, and yet people go hungry. Why is that?

New Hampshire

Rank: 49

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 13,660

Percent of assets donated: 0.48%

Percent of people who volunteer: 31.6%

Massachusetts

Rank: 32

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 97,936

Percent of assets donated: 0.66%

Percent of people who volunteer: 27.0%

Maine

Rank: 29

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 7,735

Percent of assets donated: 0.67%

Percent of people who volunteer: 33.3%

The bottom five included:

Rhode Island

Rank: 42

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 8,906

Percent of assets donated: 0.56%

Percent of people who volunteer: 26.6%

Vermont

Rank: 43

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 4,425

Percent of assets donated: 0.55%

Percent of people who volunteer: 39.8%

Connecticut

Rank: 36

Number of people making over $200,000 a year: 65,782

Percent of assets donated: 0.64%

Percent of people who volunteer: 30.7%

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