If the Grinch were to pick a home in the United States, he’d probably land himself in New Jersey, perhaps atop High Point State Park.
A new survey released by a gaming website, TopNJCasinos claims New Jersey is the least charitable state in America.
The report was based on calculations of charitable contributions made by state residents. The report is heavily influenced by charitable donations made by the state’s wealthiest top 1%.
While New Jersey might get a bad rap about charitable contributions, there might be another underlying factor not found in the report to determine why New Jerseyans might not be as charitable as other states.
New Jersey is among the most taxed state in America. There is some correlation in the report between the highest-taxed states contributing the least and the least-taxed states contributing the most.
For instance, Hawaii is the second least charitable state in the U.S., according to the report.
California, Virginia, Oregon, and Maryland are also on the Grinch list. Incidentally, California, Hawaii, and Oregon are also the highest-taxed states in the country. Simply said, people in those states don’t have much money left over after taxes to give to charity.
On the other side, Wyoming is the most charitable state. Wyoming is also the least taxed state in America.
So New Jersey, we’re not really Grinches. We’d love to give more, the but state takes far too much from us in the form of high property taxes, sales tax, business tax, tolls and other fees many states just don’t have.