Wyandotte Ranks High in Charitable Giving

Whether it's money to local synagogues or churches, food banks or animal shelters, metro Detroit residents are givers.

Those are among the findings of a six-month project by The Chronicle of Philanthropy researching "giving habits" of Americans. The research breaks down giving by zip code and is based on a year’s worth of IRS 1040 forms from households nationwide.

Researchers did a deep dive into various avenues of giving, including whether it was for religious or secular organizations and how much of one's household income was devoted to charity. For an apples-to-apples comparison, the data collected was on the percentage of post-tax income that was donated.

In Wyandotte, for instance, residents in the 48192 zip code gave about $5.9 million in 2008, ranking 6,290th—in the top 22 percent—among the 28,725 zip codes listed.

On the Wyandotte Patch Facebook page, a posting about the community's giving received 13 "likes."

"I will say when we held the benefit dinner for Bryan Smith, AKA Smitty, I was never so proud to be from Wyandotte in my entire life," Joe Pantanella wrote. "The community pulled together like I have never seen before. I love Wyandotte and proud I call it home for the past 32 years."

In the past six months, the Wyandotte community has , who was injured in a motorcycle accident, and for , a teen who was injured in a train accident.

Those are just two examples of Wyandotte's giving spirit.

Giving as a region

Metro Detroit fell in the top four percent nationally, ranking 14th overall among the 366 metro areas, giving about $1.8 billion in 2008.

And at 22nd, Michigan overall was about in the middle of the pack when it comes to charitable giving, donating about 4.5 percent of income.

Across the country, Utah, Washington D.C., and Mississippi gave the most - 10.2 percent to 7.2 percent, respectively. The bottom three states were Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, ranging from 2.8 percent to 2.5 percent, respectively.

Among other findings:

• Because of the current economy, charities are more strapped for cash than ever, which is fueling more charitable giving among neighbors.
• Those who live in more conservative, or "red states",  are more generous than those in more liberal, or "blue states."
• Middle income people give more than the wealthy, especially if the wealthy live among the wealthy.

Paul Piff, a social psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, told NPR that during his years of research he also has found that higher income people in diverse economic areas give more than those who live in wealthy areas.

"The more wealth you have, the more focused on your own self and your own needs you become, and the less attuned to the needs of other people you also become," he told NPR's Pam Fessler.