The 25 most charitable counties in the US, according to income tax data

AP Images

Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

• In Teton County, Wyoming, the county with the highest rate of charitable contributions on this list, 2016 tax deductions for charity averaged over $45,000 per taxpayer.
• In counties with the least charitable giving, deductions averaged out to less than $2000 per taxpayer, or over 22 times less money given than by those in Teton County, one of the most concentrated areas of wealth in the US.
• Six of the 25 most charitable counties in the US are located in Texas, but those counties also have the smallest populations of any on the list.

Some American counties are rather stingy with their annual charitable giving, while others are so generous that the per person average annual deduction is more than many households earn in a year.

We took a look at the top 25 most charitable counties in America in terms of the average charitable contribution written off by taxpayers in 2016. Teton County, Wyoming, one of the most concentrated areas of wealth in the country, led all counties in 2016 with an average charitable deduction of over $45,000 per taxpayer.

To compose this list, we analyzed IRS income tax data from 2016, the most recent year for which such information is available. Studying the numbers reveals more than simply which counties in America are the most generous in terms of charitable giving; it also shows that high levels of charitable giving is common all across the nation, with generous donors found in the north, south, east, and west.

Here are the 25 most charitable counties in the United States, ranked by their average charitable deduction per taxpayer.