IRS Income Data Summary

Notes and Definitions | View Connecticut Giving by Zip Code and Town

Connecticut Giving by Zip Code and Town

Connecticut is in the enviable position of having both the highest per capita income in the country and the highest wealth, as measured by the number of millionaires per capita. For seven years, the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy has provided and analyzed information on giving by Connecticut residents who itemize charitable deductions on their IRS returns. Now, for the first time, we are presenting information on giving by Connecticut itemizers by zip code and by town.

Our goal in examining this information is to try to understand the patterns of giving in the state and to provide information to support the promotion of philanthropy and encourage conversations on giving in Connecticut.

This information is based on 1997 tax returns and is the only year for which zip code data exists. It captures only itemized charitable deductions claimed on federal tax returns; this is estimated nationally to be approximately 80% of all charitable gifts, including those not itemized on tax returns.

In 1997, 35.8% of Connecticut residents itemized charitable contributions totaling more than $1.6 million. The the average gift per Connecticut itemizer was $2,831, while the national average was $2,967.

Findings

When comparing the average adjusted gross income of taxpayers for each town, we found that the average adjusted gross income of charitable itemizers ($117,763) is approximately twice that of the average among all Connecticut taxpayers ($56,898) and five times the average adjusted gross income of those who do not submit itemized returns ($22,968).

When we looked at the average charitable contribution of itemizers as a percentage of their adjusted gross income, we found at the top of the ranking some communities we might have expected. However, we also found some surprises. In a few communities near the top, a small number of residents itemize charitable deductions and those residents give more in proportion to their income (for example, Hartford with 11.7% of those who file itemized returns claiming charitable contributions and New Haven with 18.7% of those who file itemized returns claiming charitable contributions).

When we measured the average charitable contribution as a percentage of adjusted gross income, and compared the top and bottom 15 towns with demographic data from the 2000 census, we found that communities among the top 15 had relatively more residents with graduate or professional degrees, a larger percentage of the population over 65 years old, and fewer children under the age of 18.

When reviewing this data, it is important to look at the rankings in the context of the following three elements that relate to the giving habits of taxpayers who itemize their charitable deductions:

the percentage of taxpayers itemizing charitable deductions
the amount of charitable deduction itemized (Average Itemized Charitable Deduction or AICD), and
the percentage of a donor’s itemized charitable deduction to their income (the AICD divided by the Average Adjusted Gross Income, or AAGI).

The Council looks forward to the opportunity to compare this data to newer information in a future IRS zip code run.

Our thanks to George McCully of the Catalogue for Philanthropy for his inspiration and advice.

Notes and Definitions | View Connecticut Giving by Zip Code and Town