I'd be curious to know the demographics of the volunteers.   I know I put in quite a bit of volunteer time.  I'd love to know how much of the Midwest volunteerism is of a theistic bent.

~susan

Midwest Tops in Volunteering

By The Associated Press Sun Jul 8, 12:36 PM ET

(original article can be found here and Chicago Tribune article can be found here.) 

The percentage of people age 16 and older who have volunteered in the previous year for each of the 50 largest metropolitan areas. The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, used Census Bureau data to determine the average volunteer rate for each metro area from 2004 to 2006.

Rank Metro Area Rate

1 Minneapolis-St. Paul 40.5
2 Salt Lake City 38.4
3 Austin, Texas 38.1
4 Omaha, Neb. 37.8
5 Seattle 36.3
6 Portland, Ore. 35.8
7 Kansas City, Mo. 34.9      < - - - Woot!
8 Milwaukee 34.4
9 Charlotte, N.C. 34.3
10 Tulsa, Okla. 33.7
11 Cincinnati 33.4
12 Columbus, Ohio 33.3
13 Pittsburgh 32.6
14 Bridgeport, Conn. 32.3
15 Washington 31.9
16 Louisville, Ky. 31.6
17 Denver 31.5
18 St. Louis 30.9
19 Nashville, Tenn. 30.5
20 Dallas 30.3
20 Oklahoma City 30.3
22 New Haven, Conn. 30.2
23 Hartford, Conn. 29.6
23 San Francisco 29.6
25 San Diego 29.2
26 Baltimore 28.6
27 Albuquerque, N.M. 27.8
28 Indianapolis 27.7
29 Richmond, Va. 27.6
30 Boston 27.5
30 Cleveland 27.5
32 Chicago 27.4
32 San Jose, Calif. 27.4
34 Detroit 27.0
35 San Antonio 26.7
36 Philadelphia 26.6
37 Sacramento, Calif. 26.5
38 Atlanta 26.1
39 Houston 25.8
39 Tampa, Fla. 25.8
41 Phoenix 23.5
42 Honolulu 23.3
42 Providence, R.I. 23.3
44 Los Angeles 22.3
45 Orlando, Fla. 22.2
46 Riverside, Calif. 20.6
47 Virginia Beach, Va. 19.3
48 New York 18.7
49 Miami 16.1
50 Las Vegas 14.4
Nation 28.1