Personal finance website, WalletHub’s findings on the hardest working cities in the U.S.
The first Friday of March is Employee Appreciation Day in the U.S. and Canada.
Americans are outworking many of their foreign peers by hundreds of extra hours each year. Personal finance website, WalletHub, conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s hardest working cities in America.
In order to determine where Americans work the hardest, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 116 largest cities across six key metrics.
The data set ranges from “labor-force participation rate” to “average hours worked per week” to “average weekly work hours” to “share of workers with multiple jobs.”
Explore WalletHub’s expert findings from a panel of researchers below:
Key Stats
- Sioux Falls, S.D., has the highest labor-force participation rate, 83.48 percent, which is 1.4 times higher than in Detroit, the city with the lowest at 61.20 percent.
- Cheyenne, Wyo., has the shortest average commute time, 13.7 minutes, which is 2.9 times shorter than in New York, the city with the longest at 39.9 minutes.
- Salt Lake City contributes the most annual volunteer hours per resident, 65.9, which is 3.7 times more than in Providence, R.I., the city that contributes the fewest at 17.8.
Methodology
WalletHub researchers’ six key metrics—listed below with corresponding weights—were graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “hardest-working.” (Data for metrics marked with an asterisk were only made available at state levels.)
Overall scores were calculated for each city based on its weighted average across all metrics, using resulting scores to construct the final ranking. At least one city from each of the 50 states was represented and cities refer to city proper, excluding the surrounding metro area.
Direct Work Factors—Total Points: 80
- Average Workweek Hours: Triple Weight 60 Points
- Labor-Force Participation Rate: Full Weight 20 Points
(Calculated with Civilian Population Aged 16 to 64 in Labor Force/Total Civilian Population Aged 16 to 64.)
Indirect Work Factors—Total Points: 20
- Average Commute Time: Half Weight 5 Points
- Share of Workers with Multiple Jobs*: Half Weight 5 Points
Note: This metric was calculated as a percentage of total employment. - Annual Volunteer Hours per Resident: Half Weight 5 Points
- Average Leisure Time Spent per Day*: Half Weight 5 Points
To view the complete report and your city’s rank, visit WalletHub.
