This Western State Was America's Most Charitable In 2025

With all of the presents and mulled wine and shameless indulgence that accompanies the Christmas period, it's sometimes easy to forget that it's also the season of giving. This fact probably isn't lost on the folks of Wyoming, whose state was recognized as the most charitable in 2025. According to a recent WalletHub study, which assessed each state's charitable nature across 17 key indicators — including volunteering and fundraising efforts, share of income donated, and charities and food banks per capita — Wyoming topped the podium with a score of 69.49 out of 100. Neighboring state Utah came in second (68.59), while Maryland landed in third (65.16).

Because of its associations with capitalism and celebrating individual success, America doesn't always appear to be the most charitable of nations. But appearances can be deceiving. The U.S. came sixth in last year's World Giving Index, with almost two-thirds of adults donating money to causes. Additionally, more than a quarter formally volunteered between September 2022 and 2023, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, accounting for five billion hours of service and $167 billion in economic value. This puts Wyoming's status as the most giving of all states into perspective.

Residents of Wyoming give an average of 4% of their income to charities, the highest in the country, and the state has the joint highest number of charities per capita. It has the second-most Feeding America food banks per capita, shelters more than 80% of its homeless, and has robust fundraising and volunteering networks. Together, these factors add a new layer of meaning to Wyoming's moniker: the Equality State.

Community foundations in Wyoming are among the largest financial donors. The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, based in Wyoming's year-round tourist haven of the same name, manages charitable funds, awards grants and scholarships to local NPOs, and operates Old Bill's Fun Run, which raised $26 million in 2025. The Wyoming Community Foundation, which has local boards throughout the state, also funnels millions of dollars annually between donors and charitable causes, like feeding schoolchildren, supporting elderly care, and enhancing community spaces.

Another important organization is ServeWyoming, which coordinates AmeriCorps programs, such as food banks, veteran support, disaster response and recovery, NPO advocacy, and physical or skilled labor. There are hundreds of opportunities available to potential volunteers living in or visiting the state. Use the Volunteer Wyoming platform to find volunteering programs, which can be filtered by location, date, skillset, and other specifications.

Charitable duty and neighborliness go hand in hand, and you'll find plenty of that in Wyoming too. One of the American states known for its friendly people, according to travelers, Wyoming is full of good-natured locals and an embedded sense of cowboy chivalry, where people offer greetings to passersby, hold doors open for their fellow citizens, and address each other with the honorary titles "sir" and "ma'am." When you live in a place surrounded by all that dramatic natural beauty – even hikes are named for how photogenic they are — it's perhaps easier to view life as a glass half full, and to extend that optimism to your fellow human beings.