Study Rates Macungie Area on Giving

A new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that if you live within the 18062 zip code, your median discretionary income is above the national average, but the percent of it we give to charity is below the national average.

We're much more generous than people who live in New England, but nobody is as generous as people who live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

How America Gives looked at the percentage of discretionary income Americans contributed to charity in 2008.

The Chronicle broke down the country into its 28,725 zip codes and looked at the contributions of households that made more than $50,000 a year. The Chronicle counted as discretionary income what taxpayers had left after they paid taxes and paid for food, housing and other essentials.

So how did the Macungie area rate according to the Chronicle's interactive report?

18062 Zip Code                           

 Totals                                      

Nationally, the typical American household gives 4.7 percent of their median discretionary income of $54,783. The median contribution per American household was $2,564 in 2008.

Pennsylvania as a whole gave $4.7 billion to charity that year, which meant it ranked seventh out of 50 states and Washington, D.C. in total amount given. But Pennsylvanians had a median contribution of $2,181 out of discretionary income of $55,661 which put it at 40th out of 51. The median amount Pennsylvanians gave was 4.1 percent of their descretionary income.

Red states give more than blue states, the group said. “The eight states where residents gave the highest share of income to charity went for John McCain in 2008,” the story said. “The seven-lowest-ranking states supported Barack Obama.” Red states are Republican dominated and blue states are Democratic dominated.