The Top 10 Most Volunteering Cities of America
According to a new report by the federally funded Corporation for National and Community Service, Middle America is where you’ll find the cities with the country’s highest volunteer rates. If you looked at a map of the U.S. showing the metro areas with the highest volunteer rates, you’d see a cluster of them right in the center of the country. What constitutes volunteering? Essentially, any community activity performed for free through an organization. Coaching Little League, fund-raising for your church or synagogue, working in a soup kitchen and tutoring young people all count. Mowing someone’s yard just to help them out does not count.
The Top 10
1. Minneapolis- St. Paul
2. Salt Lake City
3. Austin, Texas
4. Omaha, Neb.
5. Seattle
6. Portland, Ore.
7. Kansas City, Mo.
8. Milwaukee
9. Charlotte, N.C.
10. Tulsa, Okla.
According to the study, four major factors tend to encourage high volunteer rates:
1. attachment of a community (such as high levels of home ownership)
2. low commute times to and from work
3. high education levels among the population
4. the presence of nonprofit organizations in a community.The study finds areas with high poverty rates, a high percentage of multi-unit housing and high population density tend to have low volunteer rates. Duh! No city in California or the Northeast–with their big populous cities, poor pockets and long commute times–cracks the top 10 metro areas.
