With Americans having donated nearly $560 billion to charity last year, the personal-finance website WalletHub this week released its latest report on the Most Caring Cities in America to show where people are most dedicated to helping others at a time when the nation is very divided.
WalletHub compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 38 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of sheltered homeless people to volunteering hours per capita to the share of income donated to charity.
Most Caring Cities in America
Virginia Beach, VA came in at the top of the list as the most caring city in the country, followed by Scottsdale, Arizona. Also, Boston, MA; Gilbert, AZ; Chesapeake, VA; Fremont, CA; San Diego, CA; Madison, WI; Colorado Springs, CO and, rounding out the top 10, Plano, TX. Ranked number 11 through 20 were: Irvine, CA at number 11, followed by Chandler, AZ; Chula Vista, CA; New York, NY; Santa Ana, CA; San Jose, CA; St. Paul, MN; Jersey City, NJ; Pittsburgh, PA; and the final entry in the top 20, Lincoln, NE.
Key Stats
Fort Wayne, Indiana, has the highest share of income donated to charity, which is 3.6 times higher than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the lowest.
Jacksonville, Florida, has the highest share of residents who do favors for their neighbors, which is 1.8 times higher than in Orlando, Florida, the city with the lowest.
Buffalo, New York has the highest share of sheltered homeless persons, which is 3.9 times higher than in San Jose, California.
Baltimore has the most volunteer hours per capita, which is 5.9 times more than in Jacksonville, Florida, the city with the fewest.
Fremont, California, has the lowest child-poverty rate, which is 9.7 times lower than in Cleveland, Ohio.
“The most caring cities donate a lot of money to charity and have high volunteer rates, but being a caring city overall requires much more than just giving time or money. In the top cities, like Virginia Beach, VA, Scottsdale, AZ and Boston, residents also display their care for others by working in professions that help others, like teaching, social work, firefighting and medicine, at high rates. In addition, the top cities have low crime rates, environmentally-friendly residents and low rates of poverty and homelessness,” said WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo. “Virginia Beach is the most caring city in 2024, in part due to the fact that its residents rank first in the nation for volunteering hours. Virginia Beach also has the fourth-highest share of residents who fundraise or sell items to raise money for charity. In addition, Virginia Beach has the second-lowest violent crime rate in the country and the eighth-lowest property crime rate, which shows that people care for their neighbors.”
To view the full report, visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-caring-cities/17814
Expert Commentary
How can local authorities encourage citizens to be more caring?
“Public education campaigns could help citizens be more caring. These campaigns could encourage members of the community to be more caring in and out of the home. Messages promoting caring behavior could be disseminated through both traditional and social media channels. An important aspect of these campaigns would also be to engage with local schools. Teaching children caring principles and providing them with opportunities to do service can have long-term benefits for communities.”
Garrett Pace, Ph.D., MSW – Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
“One way local authorities can encourage citizens to be more caring is to be examples of caring by learning about their citizens’ needs and pertinent issues. An example of this is community policing, which allows the local police department to partner with the citizens to understand the various problems that plague the community and the best approaches to remedy those issues. Research done by the U.S. Department of Justice confirms the positive community engagement benefits of community policing.”
Leon Banks, Ph.D., LCSW – Assistant Professor, University of Georgia
Should individuals who care for children or other relatives receive financial compensation from the government?
“Definitely. Caregiving is expensive and requires a significant amount of sacrifice from those who provide it. The costs can be calculated in terms of income loss, psychological/emotional burden, and cost of care.”
Ohiro Oni-Eseleh, MBA, Ph.D., LCSW – Program Director, Social Work, University of Delaware
“The Alzheimer’s Association estimates the cost to take care of a relative with dementia is about $60,000 per year for in-home care and approximately $115,000 per year to place a family member in a memory care facility. These figures do not consider the wages lost by a caregiver who may have to take off work to attend to the needs of their family member. For most families who do not have long-term care insurance, the burden of taking care of a chronically ill family member falls on either an adult child/children, spouse, or, in the case of a sick child, the parents. Government assistance in the form of tax breaks, direct payments, or subsidies for private caregiving costs can tremendously impact families who have to take care of loved ones. Providing financial assistance can also assist in alleviating stress-related illnesses associated with caregiving.”
Leon Banks, Ph.D., LCSW – Assistant Professor, University of Georgia
How can local communities strike the right balance between care services provided by the government versus nonprofits, charities, and religious organizations?
“From the time of the social contract tradition born in the West over four centuries ago, this has been an abiding question, particularly when theories of civil society began to emerge in the nineteenth century. On the one hand, nonprofits, charities, and religious organizations cannot and should not take the place of governments that fail to perform fundamental duties. Meeting basic needs in an industrial capitalist market system requires the right mix of non-governmental social institutions and government commitments to the well-being of their citizens. Expansive social opportunities such as education and healthcare should be under the umbrella of the government’s basic functions. Having said that, the cultivation of civil society is the greatest measure of a democracy whereby citizens naturally want to give to one another independent of government obligations to make sure certain duties are fulfilled.”
Rajesh Sampath, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Brandeis University
“Communication among service providers on the community’s needs and who is best equipped to provide those needs is critical to establishing the right balance and an efficient service delivery system. One way to do this is to create a community council where all stakeholders can discuss the community’s needs and where to best allocate resources. The configuration of the community council should include those from the private sector, the public sector, and community members, with everyone having an equal voice.”
Leon Banks, Ph.D., LCSW – Assistant Professor, University of Georgia
