Residents of Detroit donate a higher share of their discretionary income to charity than do people who live in any other of America’s 50 largest cities, according to a new study by The Chronicle.
The study, which was based on 1997 data from taxpayers who earn at least $50,000 and who itemized their deductions, found that people in Detroit donated 12.1 percent of their discretionary income, followed by residents of New York City and Fort Worth, who donated 10.9 percent.
Spending on housing, taxes, food, and other basic living costs was subtracted from total income to determine the amount of discretionary income people had available from which to make charitable donations. People who don’t itemize can’t write off gifts to charity, making it difficult to find a reliable way to measure giving by people who make less than $50,000, relatively few of whom itemize their deductions.
While Detroit topped the list of cities, the Salt Lake City-Ogden region ranked No. 1 when The Chronicle analyzed giving in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. Its residents donated 14.9 percent of their discretionary income to charity, followed by the Grand Rapids, Mich., area, where people donated 10 percent of their income to charity. Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the Greensboro, N.C., area, and the Memphis metropolitan area all followed, with residents there donating an average of 8.5 or 8.4 percent of their discretionary incomes to charity.
Suburbs vs. Cities
The Chronicle’s analysis shows the big difference between urban and suburban areas. Six of the top 10 cities on the list are located in regions that ranked markedly lower on the generosity index when entire metropolitan areas, including surrounding suburbs and nearby cities, are examined.
St. Louis, for example, ranks No. 6 on the city list, with residents having donated an average of 9.5 percent of their discretionary income to charity. By contrast, people in the entire metropolitan area, including the city, contributed less than 7 percent of their discretionary income.
One factor that may help explain the difference, according to Starsky Wilson, an official at the United Way of Greater St. Louis, is the rise in what he calls “an involved, active, creative class” in St. Louis.
“We’re seeing growth in St. Louis of the number of young African-Americans who are professional and living in the city,” Mr. Wilson says. “They are committed to urban life and to their community, and they fit the profile of people who give generously as a portion of their incomes.”
Identifying such giving trends by examining the IRS data is tricky, however. Of the nearly one million residents of Detroit, only about 33,200, or 3.5 percent of the city’s total population, could be included in The Chronicle’s study, which only considered taxpayers who reported income of at least $50,000 and itemized their returns.
By contrast, nearly one out of three residents of Minneapolis qualified for the study.
Still, charity officials in Detroit say that the city deserves its distinction as most generous. Says Mariam C. Noland, president of the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, in Detroit: “It shouldn’t surprise anyone that these people, who have been engaged in labor unions, civil-rights concerns, and their church, would give generously to a range of causes and organizations.”