The top 26 states where rich people give away the most money

• Some US states are more charitable than others.
• We ranked the states by how much residents making over $500,000 donated to charity in 2016, based on IRS data.
• Vermont is on the less charitable end of the spectrum, while Wyoming is the most charitable state. 

Wealthy people live in every state in the US — but some states are more charitable than others.

The IRS publishes data about the number of people who itemize their tax returns every year, and how many people claim which deductions by state and by income bracket.

To arrive at the rankings, we looked at the people who itemized and made between $500,000 and $1 million, and more than $1 million in the year 2016 (the most recent one for which we have data). We looked at how many claimed the itemized deduction for charitable giving. The IRS also indicates how much money was claimed to be donated. Using that information, we could figure out the average claimed donation per $500,000+ income tax return per state.

Here, in ascending order, are the top 26 most charitable states plus Washington DC.

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26: Illinois

Average annual charitable contribution: $62,328.16
Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 96%

25: Texas

Average annual charitable contribution:$64,512.10
Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 94%

24: Vermont

Average annual charitable contribution: $65,926.79
Percentage of people making $500,000+ who donate: 95%