Washington, D.C., April 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As the U.S. kicks off National Volunteer Week, Independent Sector and the Do Good Institute at University of Maryland announced today that the value of a volunteer hour is $36.14 — a 3.9% increase from the previous year. Estimated from data collected in 2025 (the last full year for which data are available), the figure illustrates the valuable and significant contributions volunteers make every day to support our communities and nation.
Charitable organizations most frequently use the value of volunteer time to recognize the amount of community support an organization receives from its volunteers. Corporations also use the figure to calculate the value of staff volunteer efforts in communities around the country.
“For the past 250 years, volunteerism has served as an engine of American civic life. Before our founding fathers touched quill to paper to sign our Declaration of Independence, Americans have been volunteering their time and energy to the causes and communities they believe in — aiding wounded soldiers in the Revolutionary War, advocating for the abolition of slavery, marching for civil rights, and raising funds to support those left behind by the other sectors of our society,” said Independent Sector President and CEO Dr. Akilah Watkins. “Today, the work of volunteers is especially important to America’s 1.9 million nonprofits: according to 2025 research from Urban Institute, three in four (75%) nonprofit organizations say that volunteers are important to their operations, with nearly a quarter (23%) entirely dependent on volunteers. While it is impossible to capture the immense contribution of the U.S. volunteer force into a dollar amount, the Value of Volunteer Time serves as an important representation of the economic and social value of the millions of hours Americans dedicate to service every year. Whether you’ve donated a single afternoon or volunteer every day, we in the charitable sector owe you a debt of gratitude.”
“The 2025 national estimated value of an hour of volunteer work is 3.9 percent higher than the 2024 value,” said Nathan Dietz, Research Director at the Do Good Institute. “Once again, the increase is real and not just due to inflation (2.7 percent in 2025), and the state-level estimates on the U.S. map also show how much these estimates vary by region and by state. This variation is due to differences in the cost of living, not in the actual value that volunteers bring to American communities: throughout the country, volunteers are working together, and with local organizations, to help their neighbors.”
In addition to the national number, Independent Sector also provides the state-level value of volunteer time for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s data shows that the value of volunteer time has increased in every state and territory measured. Values range from $17.99 per hour for Puerto Rico to $54.77 per hour for the District of Columbia. Georgia experienced the highest rate of growth, with the value of a volunteer hour raising 7.9% (from $32.63 to $35.22) over the previous year.
The state and national estimates of the value of volunteer time are calculated using a methodology based on the annual average hourly earnings (non-seasonally adjusted) for all production and non-supervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls. These annual earnings estimates come from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) database, which is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). As of April 21, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has not released final data at either the state or national level. However, BLS has released preliminary wage data for 2025, which is used to determine the current Value of Volunteer Time. Historical differences between the preliminary and final estimates published by CES in prior years indicate final estimates are unlikely to be dramatically different from preliminary data.
For more on the Value of Volunteer Time, the methodology, and to explore historical national and state-level data, visit independentsector.org/value-of-volunteer-time.
Chloe Kessock Independent Sector (727) 433-2972 chloek@independentsector.org
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