Here are some results from the first-ever federal report released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which finds that states vary widely in how, when, and what percent of their citizens volunteer (emphasis in italics added):

• Females volunteer at significantly higher rates than do males in every state; nationwide, women with children under age 18 volunteer at a significantly higher rate (39.9%) than do women without young children (29%), and women who work volunteer at a significantly higher rate (36.1%) than women who do not work (27.2%).
• The greatest percentage of volunteers serve primarily through religious organizations (34.8%).
• The highest regional volunteer rate last year was in the Midwest, at 33.3%. The largest growth in volunteering since 2002 has come from the South (2.4 million) and the West (2 million).
• The top volunteer activities by category are mentoring, tutoring, coaching, and refereeing (35%), fundraising (29.7%) and collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving food (26.3%).
• Adult volunteering generally follows a life cycle, with people age 35-54 volunteering at the highest rate, and rates subsequently declining as people age, particularly for individuals over 65.
• One state – Utah – led the nation in virtually all categories of volunteering, including highest volunteer rate (48%), annual hours donated by a typical volunteer (96), and overall volunteer rates by seniors (51.8%), college students (62.9%), and young adults (45.4%).
• The volunteer rate in the Midwest is 29% higher than the rate in the Northeast, 21.5% higher than the rate in the South, and 14% higher than the rate in the West.
• The states with the highest volunteering rates are Utah (48%), Nebraska (42.8), Minnesota (40.7), Iowa (39.2), and Alaska (38.9) – all well above the national average of 28.8 percent.
• The states with the highest number of hours contributed by the typical volunteer are Utah (96), Idaho (64), and Arizona, Maryland and Montana (60) – all above the national median of 50 hours.
• In general, volunteer rates for minorities (race and ethnicity) are substantially lower than non-Hispanic whites in most states.
• While the influence of religion and the size of a state’s rural population appear to have an overall positive influence on volunteer rates, some states with lower religious activity or substantial urban populations (such as Vermont and Michigan, respectively) have very strong volunteer rates. Meanwhile, Bible Belt states have a lower volunteer rate than most Midwest and West states.