North Bay town particularly generous, according to IRS

Inverness is a small community of about 1,400 people on Tomales Bay in Marin.

A small bayside village in the North Bay known as much for funky artists and oyster farming as it is for million-dollar real estate is among the most charitable towns in the state, according to federal tax data.

Inverness residents in the 94937 ZIP code gave away 8.64% of their adjusted gross income to charity last year—the fifth highest in California. Inverness is an unincorporated town of about 1,400 people on 7 square miles on the west short of Tomales Bay. The average household income was $103,522 at the time of the 2020 census.

Details on more than 1,400 California ZIP codes reported by the Internal Revenue Service show that the most generous Californians live in Silicon Valley, Marin and other northern California communities.

Besting Inverness were a top four beginning with San Francisco’s 94104 neighborhood (17.64%), which encompasses the many corporate donors in the city’s Financial District. Following that were a trio of Silicon Valley ZIPs: Palo Alto’s 94301, where residents donated 17.1%; Palo Alto’s 94304, where people gave 12.9%; and Mountain View ZIP code 94041, which donated 8.78%

Marin County ranks higher than average when it comes to generosity, according to federal government data. Other North Bay areas ranking on the list include charitable donation figures in Marin included 2.74% of adjusted gross income in Greenbrae; 2.64% in Belvedere and Tiburon; 2.59% in Point Reyes Station; 2.51% in the 94901 ZIP code of San Rafael; 2.36% in Sausalito; 2.14% in Mill Valley; and 2.01% in Larkspur.

Statewide, Californians gave 1.67% of their adjusted gross income to charity, the IRS reported. To calculate the average donation per tax return, one divides the total amount claimed through charitable donation tax deductions in each ZIP code by the number of tax returns filed—meaning a small number of very large donations can greatly affect a code’s overall average.