Most Generous Cities in the U.S.

What makes a city truly generous? Is it the frequency of its residents' donations, the money they give, or the number of organizations driving change? Across the U.S., generosity takes many forms, from giving time and money to creating spaces where community and support thrive.

This article covers the findings of our most recent study, ranking the nation's most generous cities. Based on data across key categories—percentage of residents who donate, registered nonprofits, charitable searches, and donation centers—this research shows where America's generosity shines brightest. Find out which cities excel in different aspects of philanthropy and discover what sets them apart.

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Key takeaways

• Based on its ranking across all categories, Orlando, Florida, is the most generous city in the U.S., followed by Jersey City, New Jersey, and St. Louis, Missouri.

• Buffalo, New York, had the highest percentage of residents who reported charitable donations on their tax return for 2021: 37.1%.

• Orlando, Florida, has the most registered nonprofits per capita: 483.

• Residents of Seattle, Washington, made the most charity-related searches per capita in 2024: 681.7.

• Jersey City, New Jersey, has the most donation centers per capita: 111.5.

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America's most charitable cities

Generosity flourishes across the country, but we looked specifically at the 100 most populated U.S. cities for this study. Below is a ranking of 75 of these cities to show which stand out as hubs for charitable giving and community support.

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Orlando, Florida, ranked as the most generous city in the U.S., followed by Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri. This overall ranking was determined using data on the percentage of residents with charitable donations reported on their tax returns, plus the number of registered nonprofits, charity-related online searches, and donation centers per capita.

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Generosity takes many forms

Generosity manifests in various ways in the U.S., and other cities stood out for their unique contributions to charitable giving. Here are the top cities in each of our five categories.

Buffalo, New York, had the highest percentage of residents who reported charitable donations on their tax returns for 2021, with 37.1% reporting donations. Orlando, Florida, stood out with the highest number of registered nonprofits per 100 residents, totaling 483. Meanwhile, Seattle, Washington, had the most charitable searches per capita (681.7) for giving-related terms like "charity near me" and "how to donate" in 2024. Jersey City, New Jersey, had the most donation centers and centers per capita, according to Yelp (111.5).

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How generosity defines America's cities

While St. Louis tops our overall ranking, the data reveals that America's most generous cities each shine in their own way. From Buffalo's high rate of tax-reported donations to Orlando's thriving nonprofit scene, these cities show that generosity comes in many forms. Together, they paint a picture of how Americans are making a difference in their communities, one donation, search, or volunteer hour at a time.

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Methodology

For this study, we meta-ranked the most populous cities in the U.S. to understand which cities are the most charitable and generous. For each of the 100 most populous cities, we leveraged the following metrics with associated weights:

• Percentage of residents reporting charitable contributions on their tax return in 2021 via IRS (35%)
  
  • Limitation: 2021 is the most recent publicly available data from the IRS

• Number of registered nonprofits per 100,000 residents via NGOBase (25%)

• Number of charitable searches per 100,000 residents in 2024 via Google Search Trends (20%)

• Number of donation centers and food banks per 100,000 residents via Yelp (20%)

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Of the 100 most populous cities, 75 had data points for all metrics.

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About Zeffy

Zeffy empowers nonprofits to change the world—completely free of charge. Founded by François and Thibaut as a volunteer-matching platform, it evolved into the only fundraising and donor management solution that never charges nonprofits a single dime.

In seven years, Zeffy has helped over 50,000 nonprofits across the U.S. and Canada raise more than $800 million, saving them $40 million in fees. Driven by the belief that generosity should be accessible to all, it provides intuitive tools for managing donations, events, and campaigns.

A Certified B Corporation, Zeffy supports over 200,000 fundraising campaigns and remains committed to helping nonprofits thrive without extra costs.

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Fair use statement

Feel free to reference these findings for noncommercial use, provided you link to the original article.