Is your county 'generous'? Report looks at NJ charitable giving

Hunterdon County is the 30th "most generous" county in the United States in terms of charitable donations, and the most generous in the Garden State, according to newly released rankings from a personal finance company.

A few counties in the Garden State aren't too far behind, while others trail by a lot.

New York-based SmartAsset based its rankings on two statistics gathered from IRS data: how much residents are donating as a percentage of their net income, and the proportion of people in a given county who made any charitable donations at all.

"Overall, New Jersey counties did rank very well when it came to their nationwide rankings," said AJ Smith, vice president of financial education at SmartAsset.

The company ranked more than 3,000 counties nationwide. All 21 New Jersey counties ranked among the top half.

At No. 1 in New Jersey, Hunterdon County posted the nation's best "contributor index" — the rate of residents who actually practice charitable giving.

The most generous counties in New Jersey also were the wealthiest.

Charitable counties, from most to least (SmartAsset):

Hunterdon County
Morris County
Somerset County
Monmouth County
Bergen County
Sussex County
Gloucester County
Ocean County
Burlington County
Mercer County
Middlesex County
Union County
Warren County
Camden County
Essex County
Cape May County
Atlantic County
Salem County
Passaic County
Cumberland County
Hudson County

An analysis released earlier this year by SmartAsset determined the same top six counties, with Morris at No. 1 and Hunterdon at No. 2, are the most "paycheck friendly" in the state.

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Contact reporter Dino Flammia at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com.