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SCARSDALE, N.Y. The Village of Scarsdale is one of the most generous in the nation, according to the results of How America Gives, a study recently released by the Chronicle of Philanthropy that measures charitable donations from communities around the country.
Scarsdale ranked 48th out of more than 11,000 municipalities, contributing a total of $165.4 million in 2008. The data was collected based on exact dollar amounts released by the IRS from 2008 that show the value of charitable deductions claimed by American taxpayers.
To protect privacy, the agency didnt provide data regarding which charities the community supported. The Chronicle of Philanthropy only included taxpayers with a reported income greater than $50,000 to avoid discrepancies in the data from those who make less.
By age, 35 percent of Scarsdale donations came from residents under age 20, the highest of any age group and 8 percent greater than the national average. Just 3.9 percent of donations came in the 20-29 age range; 16.8 percent came from the 30-44 age group. Residents between the ages of 45 and 64 contributed 30.4 percent, and senior citizens were responsible for the remaining 13.9 percent.
In all, Scarsdale had a median contribution of $12,053, good for 4.7 percent of residents median discretionary income. The wealthiest families those with an average yearly income greater than $200,000 gave an average of $26,558. Those making between $100,000 and $199,999 annually gave an average of $3,497, and all others averaged $1,963 in contributions.
Westchester was nearly in the top 10 most charitable counties, ranking 12th out of 3,115 counties across the nation and contributing $1.2 billion. The average countywide contribution was $2,796. New York State was the second most generous in the country, with a total of $11.3 billion in contributions with the average gift being $2,266.
For more information and to see where your neighbors might have fallen on the list, see the Chronicle of Philanthropys interactive map.
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