Volunteer value hits all-time high

The value of a volunteer’s time hit an all-time high during 2018 at $25.43 an hour, up 3% from 2017. It’s an increase of 20.3% since 2008 when the rate was $20.25.

An estimated 63 million Americans volunteer roughly 8 billion hours of their time, contributing approximately $203.4 billion in time to nonprofit organizations of all types. The data is from Independent Sector’s annual value of volunteer time study.

The value of volunteer time is based on the hourly earnings approximated from yearly values of all production and non-supervisory workers on private, non-farm payrolls. It is based on averages of earnings provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average is increased 12% to estimate for fringe benefits.

The value of volunteers in Washington, D.C., topped the list at $41.72 an hour with Mississippi last at $12.64. The study also totals Puerto Rico with that value at $12.64 an hour. The full state-by-state breakout is available here.