American employees work an average of 1,800 hours a year, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, but residents of some states work harder and longer than others.
A report released by the personal finance website WalletHub in August 2026 evaluated all 50 US states to determine the hardest-working and least-hardworking states in the US. WalletHub examined 10 indicators across two categories, direct work factors and indirect work factors, to rank the states.
Ranking direct work factors included assessments of average workweek hours, employment rates, the share of workers with unused vacation time, Gallup poll data about how engaged employees are in their work, and rates of "idle youth," or residents ages 18-24 with no school experience beyond a high school diploma or GED, and are not in school or working.
The ranking of indirect work factors was determined by comparing average commute times, the share of workers with multiple jobs, annual volunteer hours per resident, and average daily leisure time.
WalletHub also utilized data from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Travel Association, Gallup, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and AmeriCorps.
Read on to see how hard your state is working compared to the rest of the country.
50. Michigan
Michigan was ranked as the least hardworking state in the US for the second year in a row.
Its direct work factors ranked 50th out of all 50 states, with the fifth-lowest employment rate in the US, and its indirect work factors placed 34th.
49. Oregon
Oregon's direct work factors ranked 49th, with the fourth-lowest average workweek hours and fourth-lowest employment rate in WalletHub's ranking. Its indirect work factors ranked 21st.
Overall, it was found to be the second-least hardworking state.
48. New Jersey
Ranked the third-least hardworking state, New Jersey has the third-lowest employment rate in the US. Overall, it ranked 48th in direct work factors and 33rd in indirect work factors.
47. Ohio
Ohio's direct work factors ranked 47th, while its indirect work factors ranked 27th.
46. Nevada
Nevada's employment rate was the second-lowest in the US behind California. Its idle youth rate tied with Louisiana and Mississippi for the highest of any state.
In WalletHub's overall ranking, Nevada's direct work factors ranked 40th, and its indirect work factors ranked 47th.
45. Rhode Island
Rhode Island features the third-lowest average workweek hours and the third-lowest annual volunteer hours per resident. The state also tied with Massachusetts and North Dakota for the second-lowest idle youth rate.
Overall, Rhode Island ranked 44th in direct work factors and 37th in indirect work factors.
44. California
WalletHub's analysis found that California had the lowest employment rate of any state. It was ranked 46th in direct work factors and 26th in indirect work factors.
43. New York
New York tied with Massachusetts for the fifth-lowest average workweek hours, bringing its direct work factors ranking to 45th and indirect work factors ranking to 24th.
42. West Virginia
West Virginia tied with Oklahoma for the fifth-highest idle youth rate, placing the state 42nd in direct work factors and 39th in indirect work factors.
41. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's direct work factors ranked 36th. Its indirect work factors ranked 31st.
40. Illinois
Illinois ranked 38th in direct work factors and 22nd in indirect work factors.
39. New Mexico
New Mexico residents were found to have the fourth-lowest average leisure time per day. The state's direct work factors ranked 35th, and its indirect work factors ranked 29th.
38. Washington
Washington's direct work factors ranked 41st. Its indirect work factors made the top 10, placing seventh.
37. Massachusetts
The state was ranked 43rd in direct work factors and fifth in indirect work factors. It tied with New York for the fifth-lowest average workweek hours, and tied with North Dakota and Rhode Island for the second-lowest idle youth rate.
36. South Carolina
South Carolina features the fifth-highest average leisure time spent per day, with a direct work factors ranking of 32nd and indirect work factors ranking of 44th.
35. Connecticut
Connecticut's annual volunteer hours per resident are the fourth-highest in the US. Its direct work factors ranked 37th, and its indirect work factors ranked 11th.
34. Delaware
WalletHub found that Delaware featured the lowest average leisure time spent per day. Its direct work factors ranked 39th, and its indirect work factors ranked sixth.
33. Kentucky
In Kentucky, direct work factors and indirect work factors achieved similar placements, ranking 34th and 32nd, respectively.
32. North Carolina
North Carolinians were found to have the third-highest amount of average leisure time spent per day. The state ranked 22nd in direct work factors and 48th in indirect work factors.
31. Missouri
Missouri ranked 28th in direct work factors and 40th in indirect work factors.
30. Florida
Florida's direct work factors placed 26th, while its indirect work factors placed 43rd.
29. Arkansas
In Arkansas, the direct work factors ranked 23rd. Its indirect work factors ranked lower at 46th, with the fifth-lowest annual volunteer hours per resident and fourth-highest idle youth rate of any state.
28. Arizona
Arizona's direct work factors ranked 29th, and its indirect work factors ranked 20th.
27. Maine
In Maine, the state's direct work factors placed 27th and indirect work factors placed 23rd.
26. Idaho
Idaho was ranked 31st in direct work factors and 9th in indirect work factors, placing it 26th in WalletHub's overall ranking. It was also found to have the second-highest annual volunteer hours per resident behind Utah.
25. Minnesota
Minnesota tied with Iowa for the fifth-lowest idle youth rate in the US and ranked eighth in indirect work factors.
24. Vermont
Vermont has the second-shortest average workweek among US state, and its residents spend the fourth-most leisure time each day, yet the state also has the fourth-highest employment rate in the nation, and the state was ranked as the 24th most hardworking state by direct work factors.
23. Utah
Ranked as the fourth hardest-working state by indirect work factors, Utah workers have the shortest workweek hours out of all states, and spend the highest number of volunteer hours.
22. Louisiana
Louisiana workers tie with Texas for the second-most workweek hours on average. The state, which ranked 19th for direct work factors and 42nd for indirect work factors, also tied with Mississippi and Nevada for the highest idle youth rate in the country.
21. Mississippi
Workers in Mississippi have the second-lowest amount of leisure time spent out of all US states, and residents of the state have the lowest annual volunteer hours. The state, which ranked last in indirect work factors, also has the fourth-longest workweek among all states.
20. Wisconsin
Wisconsin ranked 25th for direct work factors, but 17th for indirect work factors, placing it 20th among all US states.
19. Indiana
Indiana ranked 20th in the study's direct work factors and 25th in the indirect work factors.
18. Iowa
Tied with Minnesota for the fifth-lowest idle youth rate in the country, Iowa ranked as the 17th hardest-working state by direct work factors; it was 30th for indirect.
17. Montana
Montana, which ranked as the 13th hardest-working state for indirect work factors, has the third-highest annual volunteer hours per resident among all US states.
16. Alabama
With the fifth-highest employment rate in the country, Alabama ranked as the 8th-hardest working US state by direct work factors.
15. Colorado
Ranked 16th for both direct and indirect work factors, Colorado is the 15th hardest-working state in the US, according to the WalletHub study.
14. Maryland
Maryland ranked as the 3rd hardest-working state by indirect work factors, while direct work factors placed it at 18th in the nation.
13. Oklahoma
Oklahoma ranked as the 10th hardest-working state by direct work factors, despite tying with West Virginia in having the fifth-highest idle youth rate.
12. Kansas
Kansas, which ranked 15th in both direct and indirect work factors, was found to be the 12th highest-working state in the WalletHub study.
11. Virginia
Virginia, which was ranked 14th for both direct and indirect work factors, was ranked as the 11th hardest-working state in the US.
10. Georgia
Georgia ranked as the ninth hardest-working US state by direct work factors, while indirect work factors placed it 28th.
9. Tennessee
Tennessee ranked as the 11th hardest-working US state by direct work factors and the 18th hardest-working by indirect work factors.
8. New Hampshire
New Hampshire, which has the lowest idle youth rates in the country, ranked as the 10th hardest-working state by indirect work factors and 12th by direct work factors.
7. Texas
Tied with Louisiana for the highest average workweek hours in the US, Texas ranked as the sixth-hardest working state by direct work factors.
6. Nebraska
Nebraska ranked 5th in direct work factors, despite its indirect work factors placing it 38th.
5. Wyoming
Tied with South Dakota for the fifth-highest average workweek hours, Wyoming residents have the fifth-highest annual volunteer hours and the third-lowest average leisure time spent per day. The state ranked second-hardest-working by indirect work factors and seventh-highest-working by direct work factors.
4. Hawaii
With the second-highest employment rate in the country, Hawaii was ranked the highest-working US state by indirect work factors and the fourth hardest-working by direct work factors.
3. Alaska
With the longest workweek out of any US state, Alaskan workers spend an average of 41.4 hours each week at work, the highest in the nation; they also spend the second-lowest leisure time daily. The state was ranked as the third hardest-working in the nation.
2. North Dakota
With an employment rate of over 97%, the third-highest in the nation, North Dakota has the fifth-longest average workweek hours and is tied with Massachusetts for the second-lowest idle youth rate. The state ranked as the hardest-working state based on direct work factors. Despite that, its workers also maintain a work-life balance and enjoy the highest average daily leisure time out of all 50 states. The state ranked highest on direct work factors despite having the fifth-lowest rank on indirect work factors.
1. South Dakota
The hardest-working US state is South Dakota. A total of 6.5% of workers in the state have multiple jobs, the 11th-highest rate in the WalletHub study. At the same time, the state has the fifth-lowest idle youth rate, the highest employment rate, and is tied with Wyoming for the fifth-longest average workweek. Workers in the state spend the fifth-lowest average leisure time each day.
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Kristine Villarroel is a reporter on Business Insider's Editorial Partnerships team.Her reporting often turns data into accessible stories about how money, education, policy, and place shape Americans’ lives. She covers stories on college costs and degree outcomes, state-by-state comparisons, public officials’ salaries, the rising cost of living, travel, food, and real estate.She has previously worked writing about culture, entertainment, music, and tech. Her work has been featured on Teen Vogue and Wired. She graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. There, she worked as editor of The Independent Florida Alligator. Email Villarroel at [email protected] and follow her on X @ktnedelvalle
