Grand Rapids ranks among 'most-generous' cities in U.S.

Grand Rapids is lucky number 13 when it comes to the most-generous cities in America.
Grand Rapidians have always known their city is rich in philanthropy and generous residents.
Now, we know Grand Rapids ranks No. 13 in the U.S. for generosity — or volunteerism and giving, according to NerdWallet.
Grand Rapids is the only Michigan city to make the ranking.
Utah is extremely generous, with Provo, Ogden and Salt Lake City taking first, second and third in the ranking.
The ranking is based on data on 366 cities from the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Corporation for National & Community Service. The personal finance website NerdWallet analyzed the data to compute the rankings.
Each city’s overall score was generated by measuring three indicators of generosity: the percentage of residents who volunteered in the past year; the number of hours residents spent volunteering and the percentage of the median income that was donated.
Most-generous cities in U.S.
Rank | Metro Region | Volunter Rates | Volunteer Hours Per Year |
Percentage Income Donated (Median) |
Overall Score |
1 | Provo, Utah | 58.5% | 147.5 | 13.9% | 100 |
2 | Ogden, Utah | 52.2% | 101.8 | 10.4% | 73.8 |
3 | Salt Lake City, Utah | 33.2% | 51.9 | 9.0% | 43.3 |
4 | Iowa City, Iowa | 49.1% | 57.6 | 4.0% | 41.7 |
5 | Boulder, Colo. | 47.1% | 51.8 | 3.8% | 38.3 |
13 | Grand Rapids | 36.7% | 33.9 | 5.3% | 30.5 |
Source: NerdWallet, 2013