Generous Utah tops giving list.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Nearly one-third of all annual giving takes place during the holidays. The U.S. ranks second overall in the World Giving Index, and the personal-finance website Wallet-Hub has released its report on the Most Charitable States. To do so, it compared them based on 13 key metrics, ranging from "volunteer rate" to "percentage of income donated" to "percentage of sheltered homeless."

The 20 most charitable states, starting at No. 1, are Utah, Minnesota, North Dakota, Maryland, Oklahoma, Delaware, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, West Virginia, South Dakota, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, Washington, and Kentucky.

Key statistics reveal that:

* Utah has the highest volunteer rate, 39.3%; Florida, the lowest, 18.3%.

* Maryland has the highest...