In this section, percentage estimates of several important civic indicators are presented along with a relative ranking for Missouri among all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Although each indicator represents an important aspect of the civic health of Missouri, no one indicator should be treated as the sole representation of the state's civic health.

SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERING
Missouri ranked 24th in the nation for volunteering among residents ages 16 and older in 2009. More than one in four residents reported that they volunteered at least once in the past twelve months. The volunteering rate for Missouri is above the national average, and it has remained stable since 2008.

According to VolunteeringinAmerica.gov, an estimated average of 1.3 million residents volunteered each year in Missouri between 2007 and 2009, and served for approximately 159 million hours. The average value of volunteer time for the state of Missouri is estimated to be approximately $18.70 per hour, 9 and Missourians contributed nearly $3.3 billion in service between 2007 and 2009. The top four activities that Missouri volunteers participate in are fundraising (28.5%), collecting/distributing food (27.1%), general labor (21.8%), and tutoring/teaching (19.5%). Missouri's volunteers are most likely to participate in their communities through religious organizations (38%), followed by educational institutions (24%), social service organizations (13.4%), and hospitals (8.6%).

In addition to volunteering, Missourians also tend to work together to solve community problems. The state was ranked in the top 20 (19th) in working with neighbors to solve community problems in 2009. Missouri scores above the national average for this indicator, and about one in ten people reported that they worked with their neighbors to solve a problem at least once in the past twelve months. Nationally, there has been an upward trend in the rate of people working with neighbors, according to the Volunteering in America Report 10 (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2010). The data for Missouri reveal that the rates of people who work with their neighbors have been generally stable the past three years.

VOTING AND REGISTRATION
Missouri ranked 23rd in voter turnout in the November 2008 election. About two out of three eligible voters participated in the election. Missouri's voter turnout has declined by three percentage points compared with the turnout for the 2004 presidential election. Voter turnout in the state was slightly higher than the national voter turnout.

Missouri ranked 15th among all states in the voter registration rate for all eligible citizens in 2008. This rate was higher than the national voter registration rate. About three out of four eligible citizens were registered to vote in Missouri. However, it should be noted that Missouri's voter registration rate has declined by seven percentage points since the presidential election of 2004, while the national rate has only declined by a little more than one percentage point.

NON–ELECTORAL POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
Slightly more than one out of four Missourians participated in at least one type of non–electoral political activity, ranking Missouri 30th among the states. 11 Missouri's score on this indicator was higher than the national average. There is no available historical data from CPS on this indicator.