Analysis ranks Illinois near the bottom of nation's hardest-working states

[September 04, 2021]  By Kevin Bessler

(The Center Square) – A new analysis puts Illinois near the bottom of the hardest working states in the country.

The personal finance website WalletHub looked at more than 10 indicators from average work week hours to the share of workers with multiple jobs to determine the rankings. Illinois was ranked as the 43rd hardest-working state in the nation. Alaska and North Dakota took the top two spots as the hardest working states. New Mexico came in at No. 50.

Analyst Jill Gonzalez said workers in downstate Illinois likely helped the state’s ranking.

"That is where we see a leveling of the work week,” Gonzalez said. “In Chicago, we typically are seeing a shorter work week, and places where they are heavily relying on agriculture, we see a longer work week.”

Americans put in an average of 1,767 hours per year as of 2021, according to the World Economic Forum. That is 435 hours per year more than Germans work, but 357 fewer than Mexicans do.

Alaska has the longest hours worked per week at 42, which is 14% longer than in Utah, the state with the shortest week at 37 hours.

The category that pushed Illinois down in the rankings was the lowest annual volunteer hours per resident, in which Illinois ranked 47th in the country.

Gonzalez said the workplace is a changing landscape with remote work still playing a major part, but there are pitfalls.
 

“I think one thing we can expect through, is that if you don’t need to be there in person, your job could probably go to anyone not only in this country, but abroad as well,” said Gonzalez.

The top three hardest working states were Alaska, North Dakota and Nebraska. At the bottom was New Mexico, followed by West Virginia and New York.