What's the Real Average Amount for Charitable Deductions in the US? USA Today data seems off

The $3,300 figure is definitely misleading as a representation of "average" charitable giving. What you're looking at is only the subset of taxpayers who itemized deductions, which was already a minority of taxpayers in 2016 (and is an even smaller percentage now after the 2017 tax changes doubled the standard deduction). For people earning under $100K, typically only those with unusual deduction situations would itemize - like having very large mortgage interest, excessive medical expenses, or unusually high charitable giving. So that $3,300 average is specifically from the subset of people who had enough deductions to make itemizing worthwhile. According to more comprehensive studies that include non-itemizers, the actual average giving is closer to $1,200-1,500 for households in that income range. Giving USA Foundation's annual reports typically show that median giving is even lower, around $600-800 annually.

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The more interesting question to me is what percentage of income people actually give to charity. I've always heard 10% as the traditional "tithe" amount, but most Americans give nowhere near that. I think the average is closer to 2-3% of income for those who donate anything at all.

Who else thinks the whole charitable deduction thing is just a tax break for the wealthy? I mean, if you don't make enough to itemize, you get zero tax benefit from donations. Meanwhile, rich people can donate appreciated stock, avoid capital gains tax AND get a deduction for the full value.

You're absolutely right to be skeptical of that USA Today figure. As a tax professional, I see this confusion all the time. The $3,300 average is only from taxpayers who itemized deductions, which creates a massive selection bias. Think about it this way: in 2016, someone earning under $100K would only itemize if their total deductions exceeded the standard deduction (which was $6,300 for single filers). So you're looking at people who had unusually high mortgage interest, state taxes, medical expenses, OR charitable giving. This naturally inflates the charitable giving average within that subset. The real picture is much more modest. Based on comprehensive surveys that include all taxpayers, the typical household earning under $100K gives somewhere between $500-1,200 annually. Your own giving level is probably much more representative of actual American behavior than that misleading $3,300 figure. The charitable deduction system does create some perverse incentives where higher-income taxpayers get better tax benefits for giving, but that's a separate policy discussion from understanding what people actually donate.