The most generous ZIP code in Greater Cincinnati – and the eighth-most-generous in the United States – isn’t in Indian Hill, Terrace Park or Hyde Park.
It’s in Mount St. Joseph, Ohio, 45051.
That’s the unique ZIP code in Delhi Township for the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, who lived up to their name by giving away an average 41 percent of their after-tax income. Their average contribution was $7,800 on an income of $18,800.
Sister Barbara Hagedorn, the president of the order, cautioned against making too much of the numbers. Many nuns aren’t required to file tax returns unless they work in “outside” jobs. Seventy-five filed tax returns out of a community of 500, but only about 200 or so live at the motherhouse.
“They’re not ours to spend. They’re used for the common good,” Hagedorn said.
Charitable contributions are community decisions, used for the order’s work in Cincinnati and throughout the world.
Still, that level of giving dwarfs the rest of the area. The average Hamilton County household contributes 3 percent of its income to charity.
But Hamilton County leads the state in giving, with an average contribution of $1,246 per tax return, according to 2002 Internal Revenue Service data, the most recent available. The Enquirer analyzed the data after it was published by the Dallas Morning News.
All told, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky gave more than $1.9 billion to charity in 2002.
After Mount St. Joseph, Indian Hill contributed an average of 7.9 percent of net income to charity – or $9,814 on an income of $124,234. Hyde Park and downtown rated a distant second and third, giving away an average of 4.9 percent.
Many lower-income neighborhoods were just as generous – if not more so – than the middle-class suburbs. Studies confirm that there’s only a loose correlation between income and giving.
Demographics may have something to do with it. A study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that blacks give 25 percent more of their income to charity than do whites.
Predominantly black neighborhoods – Bond Hill, Walnut Hills and the West End – give a greater percentage of their income to charity than residents of West Chester, Mason and Loveland.
Tags: Philanthropy
