Study: Amherst Residents Less Generous Than Average Americans

A study shows that Amherst residents may make more than the rest of the country on average, but they seem to be less charitable.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's "How America Gives"  showed that while the median discretionary income in Amherst is about $14,000 more than the average American, they give about 2.3 percent less.

Amherst ranks 24,817 of the 28,724 communites covered in the study. 

This is on par with the rest of New Hampshire, who was found to have the lowest amount of charitable giving in the country at 2.5 percent. (see chart below)

The study is based on exact dollar amounts released by the Internal Revenue Service that show the value of charitable deductions claimed by American taxpayers in 2008. 

The Chronicle’s rankings show the percentage of their income that households donated from the money they had left after paying their taxes and covering housing, food, and other essential expenses.

Detailed data is searchable by zip code.

While The Chronicle used averages to compare towns, readers may also search by income bracket. The study shows that those making those with the least amount of money in Nashua donated the largest percentage of their income.