The Bay Area, ground zero for apps that will change the world and the investors who finance them, is one of the least charitable places in America. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked the 50 largest metropolitan areas. San Francisco was no. 45 on the list.

San Jose came in even lower, at no. 48. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Although people in both metro areas donated more dollars to charity in 2012 than they did in 2006, as a percentage of income they both gave less.

People in the San Francisco metro area — which also includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties — gave 2.4 percent of their adjusted gross income to charity in 2012, down from 2.5 percent in 2006.

People in San Jose, which includes Santa Clara County, donated 2.3 percent of their income, down from 2.4 percent in 2006.

That pattern mirrored the behavior of wealthy Americans nationwide.

Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, expects the Bay Area to ranker higher next time, in part due to contributions like the 18 million Facebook shares that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation:

The rich were more affected by the stock market crash than other income groups, and that might be why they were slow to step up giving as a percent of income, Palmer speculates. "This year and last, we are seeing a lot of big gifts ... that you can't see in the 2012 data," she says.

Perhaps the tech industry would be more motivated if giving to local charities was rebranded as "a beta test for changing the world."

[Image via Associated Press]