Just in time for Labor Day, the financial news website WalletHub has compiled a list of the hardest-working and least hard-working states in the U.S.
Maryland clocks in at No. 11 on the hardest-working list.
WalletHub used government, nonprofit and survey data to compile its list. It broke the survey into “direct work factors,” like average workweek hours, employment rates and percentage of residents aged 18-24 who are not currently enrolled in school, not working and have no degree beyond a high school diploma or GED (Maryland ranked 15th in this broad category), and “indirect work factors,” like average commute time, share of workers who hold more than one job, and volunteer and leisure time (Maryland was No. 3).
Breaking down the categories further, Maryland was 21st in average workweek hours, second in average commute time, 27th in share of workers with multiple jobs, 4th in annual volunteer hours per resident, and 23rd in average leisure time spent per day.
Ahead of Maryland on the list of hardest-working states, from No. 1 to No. 10: Alaska, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Virginia, New Hampshire and Kansas.
New Mexico has the distinction of being the nation’s least hard-working state.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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