According to a new Chronicle of Philanthropy study called “How America Gives,” Atlanta walloped most other cities when it came to charitable giving. Um, we mean, “generously opened its hearts and its wallets for good causes.” (Sometimes that competitive spirit just comes out, ya know?) In fact, the whole state is a real lovefest. Georgia is the fourth most generous in the nation (after Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah at number one). Using numbers from tax returns and IRS documents, the study found that Georgians give 4.2 percent of our income to charity, compared to the average of 3 percent nationwide. Floyd is our state’s most generous county with a whopping 8.5 percent of adjusted gross income going to good causes.

While philanthropy in many cities fell during the recession, Atlanta’s rate of giving actually increased 6.5 percent between 2006 and 2012, only Vegas, Jacksonville, and Memphis saw a bigger jump.

Analysis of the study says that Atlanta has “a philanthropic culture that is unlike any other in the South” and notes that “while philanthropy in many Southern cities is centered on the church, Atlanta is a outlier. The city is home to five of the nation’s 40 biggest fundraising charities—the Task Force for Global Health, American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity International, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and CARE—all of which are built around secular missions.”

One interesting revelation of the study is that the wealthy are giving less to charity while the poor give more. People who earned $200,000 or more decreased the amount they gave to nonprofits by 4.6 percent during the study’s six-year examination period. Those who earned less than $100K increased their donations by 4.5 percent during the same time period, and people who made less than $25,000 gave nearly 17 percent more in 2012 than they did in 2006.

Are you surprised by these numbers? Use the fun interactive map to visualize the data in new and exciting ways.