The American Enterprise Institute's 2021 survey on American friendship and community measured willingness to help neighbors across major religious groups. LDS members reported the highest rate at 45%. Evangelicals followed at 33%, Catholics at 31%, and Mainline Protestants at 28%.
This aligns with the University of Pennsylvania's independently verified research showing LDS members volunteer an average of 430 hours per year — 7 times the national average of 48 hours. Penn researchers described active Latter-day Saints as "the most prosocial members of American society." Pew Research separately confirmed that 72% of LDS members volunteered in the past year — the highest of any religious group by 20 percentage points.
Three independent data sources — AEI on neighborly willingness, Penn on volunteer hours, and Pew on volunteering participation — all point in the same direction.
Discussion