Charity Navigator recently completed our sixth annual national study to determine and analyze any statistical differences that may exist in the financial practices of charities located in different metropolitan markets across America and to see if any differences exist in the financial performance of individual philanthropic communities from year to year.

Interactive Chart

Methodology
We began by segmenting the charities in our database into 30 major metropolitan markets.

• The 30 metro markets account for 55% of the 5,332 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator.
• These charities generate 66% of the total revenue and total expenses.
• The largest market included 575 charities and the smallest comprised 28.

Using the data we've obtained from the charities' Forms 990, we calculated the median value of the following sixteen variables to reveal possible differences in financial practices of the various philanthropic metropolitan markets.

Results
Our analysis, completed in May of 2008, demonstrated that the financial behavior of America's largest charities is influenced by the metropolitan market within which the charity operates. For example, Charity Navigator proved that charities in Colorado Springs have the least amount of rainy day funds. This is due to the fact that Colorado Springs has the highest concentration of religious groups, which tend to maintain relatively small amounts of working capital. We also learned that charities in New York City, where the cost of living is higher than just about anywhere else in the country, report the highest level of CEO pay. For more differences between cities, use the interactive chart on the right.

Press Release - June 1, 2008
America's Most Charitable Cities

© 2008 Charity Navigator. Note: all data is based on Charity Navigator's June 2008 Metro Market Charitable Analysis Study. These sector reports do not claim to represent median data for all charities. Charity Navigator is the largest evaluator of 501 (c) (3) charities in the U.S.