Surprisingly, Iowa Is NOT One of the Hardest Working States In America
If you grew up in the Midwest and then worked in other parts of the country there is a good chance you've heard somebody say to you, "We always love hiring people from the Midwest cause they are so hard working." While that might be true, according to this study, Iowa is middle of the pack with Illinois near the bottom.
So how did they figure out these rankings?
The study used these factors in its methodology.
- Average Workweek Hours
- Employment Rate
- Share of Households where No Adults Work
- Share of Workers Leaving Vacation Time Unused
- Share of Engaged Workers
- Idle Youth (18-24) Rate
- Average Commute Time
- Share of Workers with Multiple Jobs
- Annual Volunteer Hours per Resident
- Average Leisure Time Spent per Day
The hardest and least hard-working states in America are...
Americans average of 1,791 hours per year as of 2021, according to the World Economic Forum. And when given the chance to not work, we still do. Americans forfeited an average of 4.6 paid days off in 2021.
Taking all these factors in the hardest working state in America is...North Dakota. Followed closely by Alaska and then Nebraska coming in 3rd. All three of these actually do make sense.
The states on the bottom of the list. New York comes in at 48. Rhode Island at 49. And coming at the bottom of the heap is good old New Mexico at 50.
So where are Iowa and Illinois on the list?
Looking at the true Midwest states it's a little surprising where the 4 are ranked. Minnesota is the highest at 18th beating out Iowa. Wisconsin comes in 24th which is worse than Iowa. Iowa sits at 22. And Illinois, well, let's face it, there is a giant city in that state dragging you down. Illinois is 39th on the list. Just one above California.
You can check out the full report at the WalletHub website here.
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