April 13, 2010; Independent Sector | People volunteering in Washington D.C. are worth more than twice as much per hour than people volunteering in Mississippi, according to a new study released by Washington D.C.-based Independent Sector.

Washington D.C. volunteers are now worth $32.74 for each hour they volunteer, while the value of Mississippi volunteers is just $15.09 an hour.  The least valuable volunteers among the states?  North Dakota and Montana take that prize, at $14.90 and $14.66—but at least they’re not Puerto Rico at $11.06 an hour.

The value of volunteer time is based on the average hourly earnings of all production and nonsupervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls (as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Independent Sector takes this figure and increases it by 12 percent to estimate for fringe benefits.—Jon Pratt