25 Most Caring Big Cities in America Where Residents Are More Than Just a Number

Metropolitan cities tend to have the reputation of being big, loud, and, if you allow your philosophical mind to wander, less caring. Compared to more rural areas in America, cities with large populations may not be as welcoming to people as some would hope.

If you live in a major city in the U.S., you might already have specific views on how caring your community really is. WalletHub looked at data from the most populated cities in the U.S. to determine the 25 most caring cities.

A city’s number of volunteering opportunities, childcare services, and the number of first responders available are some of the factors WalletHub used to determine the rankings. If you live in a major city, find out whether your community made the list. 

Which Cities Care Most

WalletHub used data across three main sectors to determine which cities are the most caring. The sectors included:

• Caring for the community
• Caring for the vulnerable
• Caring in the workforce

They assigned 38 metrics among those sectors and weighted them accordingly. Some of the sectors included property crime rate, driving fatalities per capita, adoption rate, nurses per capita, and “Built for Zero” communities. Not all cities had the chance to rank, for WalletHub based its study on the 100 most populated cities in the U.S.

“Built for Zero” is an organization that helps stop homelessness in over 80 communities in the U.S. New York City is currently ranked first when it comes to which American city has the highest population of homeless people. But does it make the list of the most caring cities when adding in other important factors? 

Below are the most caring big cities in America, starting with the most caring. The higher the total score each city has, the more caring it is. In contrast, beneath the “Caring for the community,” “Caring for the vulnerable,” and “Caring in the workforce” rankings, “1” indicates a city is best in that metric, and “100” indicates it’s the worst.

Capital City Tops List

Madison is the most caring city in America. Wisconsin’s capital is known for its many volunteer opportunities, with the Madison Children’s Museum and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Madison ranking as some of the best volunteer organizations in the city. 

According to Barna, Madison comes in 14th place in the nation for the percentage of residents who volunteer at a nonprofit, with over 20% involved weekly.

Surprising Major Cities Ranked

New York City comes in at number four among the most caring cities, but the Big Apple is known as one of the noisiest cities in the world. It was reported that more than 40,000 noise complaints were filed in New York City in 2012, making for some interactions that don’t seem all that caring.

Some people might also be surprised to see Boston as the second-most caring city in the U.S. Bostonians have a reputation for being a little rude, as Boston reportedly ranks as the fifth-rudest American city. The same survey ranked Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the rudest city in the nation above Memphis, Tennessee, and New York City. 

Caring City Fights Back

According to WalletHub, Scottsdale and Gilbert are among the most caring, with both ranking particularly high for the “caring for the community” metric. However, Arizona’s track record for road rage might not make those cities look so caring. According to Forbes, Arizona has the most confrontational drivers.

The city of Gilbert, in particular, is fighting back against road rage. Its police department sent an unmarked patrol car out to specifically look for aggressive drivers, who can cause accidents on the road if left unchecked.

Rudest States in America

Now you know the rudest cities in the U.S. But what about the rudest states? According to a study by Zippia, residents from these states are more likely to be downright rude.

America’s Rudest States Ranked From 1 to 50

19 Historical U.S. Myths That Annoy History Buffs to the Core

If your teacher taught it in history class, it’s normal to assume it’s true. Ask any historian, though, and you might be surprised to learn the stuff of school history lessons is often riddled with inaccuracies. 

19 Historical U.S. Myths That Annoy History Buffs to the Core