Study Ranks Massachusetts One of Stingiest States in America

Massachusetts is one of the stingiest states in the union, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy study of Americans' giving habits, which also shed some light on the generosity of Salemites.

Bay State Residents Have Tight Pockets

The only states that are tighter with their pockets than Massachusetts when it comes to giving to others are Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Behind Utah, where residents gave 10.6 percent of their incomes to charitable causes at a median contribution of $5,255, Alabama and Mississippi were ranked more generous with more than 7 percent of income going back out the door to help others, according to the Chronicle.

Bay State residents gave an average of 2.8 percent to charitable causes.

The Chronicle called the differences "America's Generosity Divide."

The study cites a variety of factors in its analysis including religion — when donations to religious organizations are taken out of the picture, people in the Northeast give the most (1.4 percent of their incomes) and Southerners give the least (.9 percent of their incomes), according to the publication.

Politics was also considered. "The eight states that ranked highest in The Chronicle's analysis voted for John McCain in the last presidential contest while the seven lowest-ranking states supported Barack Obama," according to the Chronicle.

Beyond state and regional trends, the study also delved in specifics by county and even trends in different towns and cities.

How Does Salem Stack Up?

The way things stacked up on the North Shore may surprise you.

Out of 28,725 communities in the study, Salem came in 25,239th in terms of generosity with residents giving a median of $1,149 of their income to charity. Marblehead residents were more generous giving a median of $2,600.

Manchester — which ranked 492 out of 28,725 and gave $6,826 — and Wenham — which gave a median of $4,315 — were among the most generous communities in the area.

Here's a ranking of area towns' median contributions by household (does not include all area towns, but a sampling of Patch and other keys towns — click here for more).

1. Manchester — $6,826
2. Wenham — $4,315
3. Hamilton — $2,604
4. Andover — $2,806
5. Marblehead — $2,600
6. Swampscott — $2,039
7. North Andover — $1,901
8. Chelmsford — $1,650
9. Beverly — $1645
10. Danvers — $ 1,425
11. Lowell — $1,244
12.  Salem — $1,149
13. Lynn — $899

Considering Salemites' Incomes

Within Salem, the stats were broken down even more. In a sampling of all income levels, Salemites gave 2.5 percent of their incomes.

Here's how the rest of the brackets stacked up according to the Chronicle:

For more information, visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy here.

What do you think of the results of the study? Do you agree? Be sure to let us know in the comments.