St. Louis ranks 10th in the nation among large cities in volunteerism, according to a new report.
The Volunteering In America report is a partnership between the Corporation for National and Community Service, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau for Labor Statistics to collect volunteering data annually through the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Supplement on Volunteering.
The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households (approximately 100,000 adults), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Volunteers are defined as individuals ages 16 and over who perform unpaid volunteer activities for or through an organization.
Looking at aggregate statistics 2007-2009, St. Louis ranked 10th in cities its size with a volunteer rate of 30.5 percent.
Minneapolis has the highest volunteer rate among large cities at 37.4 percent. The other large cities in the top 10 are Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Hartford, CT, Kansas City, MO, Columbus, OH 31.9 and Washington, DC.
Overall 63.4 million Americans (age 16 and older) volunteered in 2009, an increase of almost 1.6 million since 2008.This is the first significant increase in the volunteer rate and the largest single year increase in the volunteer numbers since 2003.
Rates increased among African Americans, especially women, this year more than among other groups. The rate of volunteerism among African Americans climbed from 19.1 percent in 2008 to 20 percent in 2009, and increased by 1.6 percent among African-American women.
Overall, Missouri ranks 26th in the country for volunteering with 29 percent. For the fifth year in a row, Utah was the top volunteer state with a volunteer rate of 44.2 percent, followed by Iowa (37.8 percent), Minnesota (37.5 percent), Nebraska (37.4 percent), and Alaska (37.3 percent).
The research found that higher rates of homeownership, lower rates of foreclosure, shorter average commute times, more robust nonprofit infrastructure, lower poverty rates, and higher education levels are all related to higher rates of volunteering.
Factors such as the prevalence of multi-unit housing, higher poverty rates, and longer commuting times are associated with lower volunteer rates.
President Obama has placed a high priority on citizen service as a strategy to meet national challenges. With bipartisan Congressional support, the president has worked with the Corporation for National and Community Service to create more opportunities for Americans to serve, to encourage social innovation, and to focus service on tackling pressing social problems.
A PDF of report is available at http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/assets/resources/IssueBriefFINALJune15.pdf.