Boston Ranks Among Most Caring Cities In U.S.: Study

BOSTON, MA — When it comes to caring for their community, Boston has something to be proud of, according to personal finance website WalletHub. The city landed at No. 3 on a list of the Most Caring Cities in America.

“The most caring cities donate a lot of money to charity and have high volunteer rates, but being a caring city overall requires much more than just giving time or money," WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said. "In the top cities, like Virginia Beach, VA, Scottsdale, AZ and Boston, residents also display their care for others by working in professions that help others, like teaching, social work, firefighting and medicine, at high rates. In addition, the top cities have low crime rates, environmentally-friendly residents and low rates of poverty and homelessness.”

In order to identify the areas that care the most, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 38 key indicators of what they term "a compassionate spirit." The data set ranges from the share of sheltered homeless people to volunteering hours per capita to the share of income donated to charity.

Boston ranked No. 14 in caring for the community, No. 14 in caring for the vulnerable, and No. 1 in caring in the workforce, according to the study. The workforce metric comprises the share of residents in professions like social work, teaching, firefighting, and medicine.

"Boston is the third-most caring city in America, as it turns out Bostonians have hearts of gold hiding behind their reputation for rudeness," according to WalletHub. "Boston residents donate more money online per capita than anyone else in the U.S."

Here's the full top 10:

1. Virginia Beach, Virginia
2. Scottsdale, Arizona
3. Boston, Massachusetts
4. Gilbert, Arizona
5. Chesapeake, Virginia
6. Fremont, California
7. San Diego, California
8. Madison, Wisconsin
9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
10. Plano, Texas

Read the full study at WalletHub.