These Are The Hardest-Working US States

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, shows the U.S. states that work the hardest, as scored out of 100 by a Wallethub study conducted in July 2024.

Naturally trying to measure and compare “hard-work” requires a little bit of data analysis.

How Is Hard Work Quantified?

Here’s what Wallethub did. First they analyzed all states on 10 indicators and assigned them different weights.

These indicators are then divided into two categories. The main one, “Direct Work” contributes 80 points to the total score.

Meanwhile, “Indirect Work” indicators help the state achieve the last 20 points.

Clearly, states that score better on higher-weighted indicators end up with a higher overall score, as seen below.

Ranked: America’s Hardest-Working States

Wallethub states North Dakota is the hardest-working American state, giving it a rounded score of 67/100. The state’s 98% employment rate helped in securing first place.

Overall Rank	State	State Code	Total Score
1	North Dakota	ND	67
2	Alaska	AK	64
3	Nebraska	NE	60
4	Wyoming	WY	60
5	South Dakota	SD	60
6	Maryland	MD	58
7	Texas	TX	57
8	Colorado	CO	55
9	New Hampshire	NH	54
10	Kansas	KS	53
11	Virginia	VA	52
12	Oklahoma	OK	52
13	Georgia	GA	52
14	Hawaii	HI	51
15	Tennessee	TN	49
16	Mississippi	MS	49
17	Iowa	IA	48
18	Alabama	AL	47
19	Louisiana	LA	47
20	Missouri	MO	46
21	Minnesota	MN	46
22	Maine	ME	46
23	North Carolina	NC	45
24	Indiana	IN	45
25	Montana	MT	44
26	South Carolina	SC	44
27	Idaho	ID	44
28	Utah	UT	44
29	Arkansas	AR	43
30	Florida	FL	43
31	Vermont	VT	43
32	Arizona	AZ	41
33	Wisconsin	WI	41
34	Pennsylvania	PA	40
35	Washington	WA	40
36	Delaware	DE	40
37	Kentucky	KY	40
38	Massachusetts	MA	39
39	California	CA	38
40	Illinois	IL	38
41	Oregon	OR	38
42	Ohio	OH	37
43	New Jersey	NJ	37
44	Rhode Island	RI	37
45	Nevada	NV	37
46	Connecticut	CT	37
47	New Mexico	NM	35
48	Michigan	MI	34
49	New York	NY	34
50	West Virginia	WV	32

Note: Figures rounded.

Meanwhile, Alaska ranks second with 64 points, due to its average workweek crossing 41 hours. It’s the only state in the study which crossed the standard 40-hour metric.

And Nebraska comes in third with 60 points. Wallethub states that more than 7% of its workforce has multiple jobs, the third-highest of all states.

A quick overview of the map reveals that the strip of states in the center of the country are the hardest-working, with scores falling as one moves east and west respectively. Interestingly this is also America’s farming country, a demanding sector that requires long hours.

Another interesting phenomenon is how Alaska and North Dakota have high direct work ranks but are bottom of the pack for indirect work.

Overall Rank	State	Direct Work Factors Rank	Indirect Work Factors Rank
1	North Dakota	1	41
2	Alaska	2	34
3	Nebraska	5	5
4	Wyoming	6	2
5	South Dakota	3	26
6	Maryland	7	4
7	Texas	4	31
8	Colorado	9	7
9	New Hampshire	12	9
10	Kansas	10	25
11	Virginia	16	12
12	Oklahoma	8	44
13	Georgia	11	32
14	Hawaii	14	29
15	Tennessee	15	36
16	Mississippi	13	46
17	Iowa	18	24
18	Alabama	17	48
19	Louisiana	19	38
20	Missouri	24	20
21	Minnesota	26	8
22	Maine	33	1
23	North Carolina	23	30
24	Indiana	25	28
25	Montana	27	22
26	South Carolina	21	42
27	Idaho	30	6
28	Utah	35	3
29	Arkansas	20	50
30	Florida	22	47
31	Vermont	31	14
32	Arizona	28	39
33	Wisconsin	29	40
34	Pennsylvania	36	16
35	Washington	39	13
36	Delaware	32	37
37	Kentucky	34	35
38	Massachusetts	40	15
39	California	37	27
40	Illinois	42	19
41	Oregon	46	10
42	Ohio	43	21
43	New Jersey	45	17
44	Rhode Island	44	23
45	Nevada	38	43
46	Connecticut	49	11
47	New Mexico	41	45
48	Michigan	48	33
49	New York	50	18
50	West Virginia	47	49

However, Nebraska performs equally well in both categories. The Cornhusker state has a low share of idle-youth, and has the fifth-highest volunteer hours per capita in the country.

Interestingly, many of America’s hardest-working states have much lower cost of living requirements. See how the data shakes out in The Income an Individual Needs to Live Comfortably in the States.