In 2021, Americans worked an average of 1,791 hours — or 34.44 hours weekly — ranking the country at No. 12 for the amount of hours worked worldwide. Compiling data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other organizations, WalletHub released a report ranking the hardest-working states in the U.S.

Methodology: The report compiled data from several factors, such as average workweek hours, employment rate, idle youth rate, leisure time, and volunteer efforts. The report also weighs in factors such as commute time and amount of people with multiple jobs.

Average workweek hours: Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Texas, and Louisiana were the states with the longest average work weeks, respectively. On the other side, the states with the shortest work weeks were Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon, and Rhode Island, and coming in last with the country’s shortest average work week is Utah.

Employment rate: Even though Utah may have the shortest work week, it ranks No. 2 in the country for average employment rate, following Nebraska. The following states are South Dakota, Kansas, and Montana. The states with the lowest employment rates are Alaska, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, and California.

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Rankings: Based on WalletHub’s criteria, here are all 50 U.S. states ranked from hardest working to least.

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