Good news, America: The U.S. is the most generous country in the world, according to the Charity Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index. The report interviewed residents of 128 countries over 10 years, tracking which nations’ inhabitants were most likely to help a stranger in need, donate money to charity, or volunteer their time. While that’s lovely, we got curious about the opposite. If the U.S. as a whole is generous, which state is the stingiest?
For our calculations, we took “stingy” to mean miserly in a purely monetary sense, and focused our efforts on data that just reflects financial decisions. We first analyzed the Fraser Institute’s Generosity Index, which ranked American states and Canadian provinces by their tax-declared donations to charity per capita, and the size of these donations. We then added data from TSheets’ survey of 10,400 tipped workers across the country to determine which state was the best tipper. Lastly, we averaged holiday spending data from TitleMax and 24/7 Wall St. and calculated that as a percentage of disposable income per capita (using income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis). All of these metrics measure positive financial spending, of course, so we ranked them in reverse order to make the Stingy Index.
What did we discover? The stingiest state of all was notable due to its relatively high disposable income, coupled with low rates of charity donation. Read on to find out how all the states rank, from the most generous to the stingiest, and for more places where your dollar isn't strong, check out This Is the State Where Your Money Is Worth the Least.
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50 | Utah
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 8.8
Average tip: 16.49 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.18
Stingy Index: 0
49 | Connecticut
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 6.8
Average tip: 18.58 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.74
Stingy Index: 9.25
48 | New Jersey
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 6.3
Average tip: 18.65 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.88
Stingy Index: 12.21
And for more about states that have a bad reputation, This Is the Most Hated State in America.
47 | Georgia
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 7.5
Average tip: 16.73 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.21
Stingy Index: 15.15
46 | Maryland
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 7.7
Average tip: 16.92 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.87
Stingy Index: 17.73
45 | Virginia
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 6.1
Average tip: 17.98
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.94
Stingy Index: 24.04
44 | Delaware
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.9
Average tip: 18.44 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.36
Stingy Index: 24.7
43 | Maine
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.2
Average tip: 19.36 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.69
Stingy Index: 28.24
42 | Rhode Island
Shutterstock
Fraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.5
Average tip: 19.09 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.03
Stingy Index: 28.95
41 | Massachusetts
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.9
Average tip: 17.96 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.84
Stingy Index: 29.86
40 | Florida
Noah Densmore / ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.7
Average tip: 18.21 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.33
Stingy Index: 31.96
39 | Minnesota
f11photo / ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 33.38
Average tip: 17.57 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.12
Stingy Index: 33.38
38 | Alabama
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.6
Average tip: 16.62 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.43
Stingy Index: 40.19
37 | Mississippi
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.7
Average tip: 17.31 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.54
Stingy Index: 40.41
36 | Arizona
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.8
Average tip: 17.49 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.36
Stingy Index: 40.73
And for the states where you'd have financial success, check out This Is the State Where You Can Make the Most Money.
35 | Michigan
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.3
Average tip: 18.03 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.27
Stingy Index: 42.2
34 | Colorado
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.2
Average tip: 17.7 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.87
Stingy Index: 43.72
33 | New York
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 6
Average tip: 17.14 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.72
Stingy Index: 43.73
32 | Vermont
iStockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.4
Average tip: 18.32 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.54
Stingy Index: 44.79
31 | New Hampshire
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.9
Average tip: 17.89 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.45
Stingy Index: 46.04
30 | South Carolina
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.2
Average tip: 16.87 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.23
Stingy Index: 47.33
29 | Illinois
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5
Average tip: 17.52 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.95
Stingy Index: 47.44
And for more on how to manage your finances in your state, check out This Is the Cheapest State in America.
28 | Arkansas
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.4
Average tip: 16.37 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.39
Stingy Index: 47.96
27 | Idaho
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.2
Average tip: 16.51 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.38
Stingy Index: 47.96
26 | Missouri
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.4
Average tip: 17.31 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.34
Stingy Index: 49.98
25 | California
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.7
Average tip: 16.66 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.72
Stingy Index: 55.58
24 | Nevada
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.4
Average tip: 16.76 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.43
Stingy Index: 56.31
23 | Iowa
Clint Farlinger / AlamyFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.5
Average tip: 17.11 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.14
Stingy Index: 56.6
22 | Texas
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.4
Average tip: 17.33 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.97
Stingy Index: 58.84
21 | Oregon
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.7
Average tip: 15.63 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.19
Stingy Index: 59.65
20 | Kentucky
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4
Average tip: 16.95 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.39
Stingy Index: 60.42
19 | North Carolina
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 5.1
Average tip: 16.08 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.25
Stingy Index: 60.54
18 | Kansas
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.4
Average tip: 16.21 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.92
Stingy Index: 61.95
17 | Nebraska
Arbor Day FarmFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.6
Average tip: 16.49 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.17
Stingy Index: 63.73
16 | Indiana
iStockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.5
Average tip: 17.5 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.17
Stingy Index: 65.03
15 | Ohio
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.7
Average tip: 17.38 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.08
Stingy Index: 66.02
And for more about states that aren't so nice, This Is the Unfriendliest State in the U.S.
14 | Hawaii
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.1
Average tip: 16.61 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.24
Stingy Index: 67.85
13 | Montana
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.5
Average tip: 15.53 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.59
Stingy Index: 69.49
12 | Pennsylvania
George Oze / AlamyFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.2
Average tip: 16.8 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.97
Stingy Index: 70.04
11 | Wisconsin
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.5
Average tip: 16.18 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.16
Stingy Index: 70.22
10 | Washington
iStockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.9
Average tip: 16.23 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.78
Stingy Index: 72.93
9 | Oklahoma
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.2
Average tip: 16.45 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.04
Stingy Index: 72.93
8 | Louisiana
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.7
Average tip: 16.61 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.18
Stingy Index: 73.73
7 | Tennessee
Shutterstock/f11photoFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.8
Average tip: 16.38 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.22
Stingy Index: 76.31
6 | South Dakota
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.4
Average tip: 16.53 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.29
Stingy Index: 78.34
5 | New Mexico
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 3.2
Average tip: 16.54 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.36
Stingy Index: 79.38
4 | Wyoming
iStockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 4.4
Average tip: 16.91 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.97
Stingy Index: 80.59
3 | West Virginia
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 1.8
Average tip: 17.24 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.45
Stingy Index: 87.65
2 | North Dakota
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 2.6
Average tip: 16.26 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 2.34
Stingy Index: 93.29
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1 | Alaska
ShutterstockFraser Institute Generosity Index: 2.5
Average tip: 16.71 percent
Holiday spending as percentage of disposable income: 1.85
Stingy Index: 100
And for more on states that can be unpleasant, This Is the Rudest State in America.
