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Volunteering data · AmeriCorps, 2017 to 2023
Volunteering rate by state
Updated October 2026
In 2023, 28.3% of Americans 16 and older volunteered through an organization, up from 23.2% in 2021 but still short of 30.0% in 2019. Utah leads at 46.6%, and Rhode Island is lowest at 18.5%.
- 28.3%of Americans 16 and older volunteered through an organization in 2023, plus or minus 0.5 points.
- 4.99 billionhours given nationally in 2023, added up from the states below.
- 11 statesare clearly below their pre-pandemic rate. None is clearly above it on both tests.
- 2.5 timesthe gap between the top and bottom: Utah's rate against Rhode Island's.
Source: AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 2017 to 2023. Margins of error and hours: Ember analysis of the same survey.
What the numbers say
- The gap between states is wide. The highest rates are in Utah (46.6%), Vermont (40.5%) and Nebraska (40.3%). The lowest are in Rhode Island (18.5%), Nevada (18.6%) and Alabama (19.9%).
- The rebound is real but not complete. The national rate fell to 23.2% in 2021 and has climbed back to 28.3%. Most states are too close to their old level to call.
- 11 states are clearly below where they were. Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wisconsin sit below both their 2019 rate and their 2017 to 2019 average, past the margin of error.
- Ranks are softer than they look. State samples are small. For a typical state, the true place sits somewhere in a band about 26 ranks wide. Check the margin beside each rate before you call one state ahead of another.
Volunteering rate by state, 2023
Tap a column to sort, or pick a region. Each state's name opens its own page, with its trend and how it compares with its neighbors.
| 1Utah | 46.6%±4.2 | 115 million | down 2.9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2Vermont | 40.5%±4.4 | 13 million | up 3.1 |
| 3Nebraska | 40.3%±5.3 | 30 million | down 3.2 |
| 4Minnesota | 40.3%±4.0 | 111 million | up 0.2 |
| 5Kansas | 39.6%±4.9 | 55 million | up 5.6 |
| 6South Dakota | 37.8%±5.2 | 16 million | down 9.1 |
| 7Connecticut | 37.4%±4.9 | 84 million | up 6.0 |
| 8Montana | 37.2%±3.6 | 27 million | down 0.2 |
| 9District of Columbia | 35.8%±3.3 | 9.9 million | down 3.4 |
| 10Oregon | 35.7%±2.8 | 92 million | down 1.3 |
| 11Iowa | 35.5%±4.7 | 51 million | up 2.4 |
| 12Maine | 34.9%±4.9 | 26 million | down 0.8 |
| 13Colorado | 34.7%±4.7 | 92 million | down 7.5 |
| 14Idaho | 34.4%±4.1 | 49 million | down 0.1 |
| 15Alaska | 33.6%±5.2 | 13 million | down 1.9 |
| 16Wyoming | 33.5%±3.5 | 13 million | up 2.5 |
| 17Tennessee | 33.2%±3.1 | 135 million | up 1.5 |
| 18Massachusetts | 33.1%±3.4 | 109 million | up 2.4 |
| 19Indiana | 33.1%±3.1 | 128 million | down 0.9 |
| 20Maryland | 32.8%±4.0 | 111 million | down 1.2 |
| 21Washington | 32.8%±3.2 | 158 million | down 1.0 |
| 22Delaware | 32.0%±4.0 | 17 million | up 1.3 |
| 23Virginia | 31.6%±3.9 | 157 million | down 3.8 |
| 24Oklahoma | 31.5%±3.7 | 62 million | up 3.9 |
| 25WisconsinClearly below 2019 | 31.1%±3.8 | 108 million | down 6.4 |
| 26PennsylvaniaClearly below 2019 | 31.0%±3.1 | 195 million | down 4.8 |
| 27North Dakota | 30.7%±5.6 | 12 million | down 2.2 |
| 28Illinois | 30.3%±2.9 | 187 million | down 2.7 |
| 29OhioClearly below 2019 | 30.3%±2.6 | 182 million | down 6.8 |
| 30Arizona | 30.0%±4.2 | 156 million | up 3.8 |
| 31MissouriClearly below 2019 | 29.8%±3.7 | 92 million | down 6.7 |
| 32New Hampshire | 29.6%±3.8 | 32 million | down 2.6 |
| 33Hawaii | 29.4%±4.0 | 26 million | down 2.7 |
| 34South Carolina | 28.8%±4.2 | 67 million | down 2.5 |
| 35Arkansas | 28.2%±3.9 | 33 million | down 1.5 |
| 36Kentucky | 27.5%±4.6 | 73 million | up 1.3 |
| 37Texas | 27.4%±1.9 | 441 million | up 1.0 |
| 38Michigan | 26.4%±3.1 | 139 million | down 3.8 |
| 39New Jersey | 25.7%±2.7 | 105 million | down 0.4 |
| 40Georgia | 25.6%±3.0 | 167 million | down 2.6 |
| 41New York | 25.5%±2.6 | 233 million | up 2.8 |
| 42North CarolinaClearly below 2019 | 24.9%±2.5 | 125 million | down 5.5 |
| 43California | 24.1%±1.5 | 491 million | down 0.8 |
| 44Louisiana | 23.5%±3.9 | 47 million | down 4.3 |
| 45West VirginiaClearly below 2019 | 23.0%±3.1 | 24 million | down 7.6 |
| 46MississippiClearly below 2019 | 20.9%±3.0 | 23 million | down 5.1 |
| 47FloridaClearly below 2019 | 20.4%±1.8 | 248 million | down 3.8 |
| 48New MexicoClearly below 2019 | 20.3%±2.1 | 27 million | down 7.4 |
| 49AlabamaClearly below 2019 | 19.9%±2.9 | 40 million | down 5.9 |
| 50Nevada | 18.6%±2.7 | 36 million | down 3.2 |
| 51Rhode IslandClearly below 2019 | 18.5%±3.0 | 11 million | down 7.1 |
Rate: share of residents 16 and older, with its 90% margin of error in points. Hours: all volunteer hours in the state in 2023. Source: AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 2017 to 2023. Margins of error and hours: Ember analysis of the same survey.
Download the table as a CSV. It has all four survey years, every margin of error and the volunteer counts.
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Value of volunteer time by state
This page counts hours, not dollars. Independent Sector publishes an hourly value for each state on its value of volunteer time page, and that's the place to look up your state's figure. We don't republish those state values here.
Once you have a rate, the volunteer hour value calculator does the rest: enter your hours and it works out what they're worth. The hours in the table above tell you how much time a whole state gives, which is useful context next to your own total.
Volunteer impact: how to use these numbers
- Set the scene. Open a grant section or annual report with your state's rate and how it compares. Each state page has a sentence ready to paste, with its citation.
- Show your own hours. Funders care more about your program than your state. Give your total hours and what those hours did.
- Be honest about margins. If your state and a neighbor are too close to call, don't claim you're ahead. The state pages mark this for you.
Hours come easier when they're counted as they happen. Ember Impact Reports shows the volunteer hours each program took and counts them in what the work cost, free if your budget is under $50K a year. Our guide to tracking volunteer hours covers the habits that make the total trustworthy.
How this was measured
AmeriCorps and the Census Bureau ask this every two years, in September, in the Civic Engagement and Volunteering supplement to the Current Population Survey. A person counts as a volunteer if they gave time through an organization in the past 12 months, and the rate covers residents 16 and older. The state rates here are AmeriCorps' published figures. Margins of error, tests and hours are our own work from the survey's public files, using the Census Bureau's replicate weights, at 90% confidence.
A state is "clearly below" only if it passes two tests: 2023 is below 2019, and 2023 is below the 2017 to 2019 average, each past the margin of error. September 2023 is the newest state reading available. People who helped neighbors outside any organization are not in these rates.
Sources: AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America: state rates, 2017 to 2023 (public domain; read October 9, 2026) and Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement data. Hours, margins of error, tests and neighbor comparisons are Ember's analysis of the same survey (free CSV, every column on this page).