With Labor Day weekend right around the corner, a new study has come out to show which states have more hard workers than others. Even though most Americans are hard workers, putting in an average of 1,767 hours per year as of 2021, according to the World Economic Forum, some workers in some states aren't keen on hard work. We looked at Iowa and Illinois in this study (duh) and they couldn't be more opposite.

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Our friends at WalletHub conducted a study to find out which states work the hardest and which ones are the laziest. In order to determine 2021's Hardest-Working States, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions:

  • Direct Work Factors
  • Indirect Work Factors

WalletHub then evaluated those dimensions using ten key metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “hardest-working.”

After doing a bunch of math and figuring out each state’s weighted average across all metrics, WalletHub calculated each state's overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

When the math was all complete, here is whatWalletHub found:

Source: WalletHub

WalletHub found that the state with the hardest workers in America is Alaska who had an overall score of 68.63. They ranked second in both Direct Work Factors and Indirect Work Factors. The state that has the laziest workers, according to WalletHub is New Mexico who had an overall score of 29.53. They finished 46th in both Direct Work Factors and Indirect Work Factors.

How did Iowa and Illinois do?

According to WalletHub, Iowa is in the top 20 states with the hardest workers. Iowa landed at #19 on this list. Iowa had an overall score of 45.68. Iowa was 17th in Direct Work Factors and 35th in Indirect Work Factors. Here are some other stats that WalletHub found about Iowa:

  • 21st – Avg. Workweek Hours
  • 14th – Employment Rate
  • 8th – Share of Workers with Multiple Jobs
  • 27th – Avg. Leisure Time Spent per Day

Illinois on the other hand was very far down on the list. They are actually in the top 10 states with the laziest workers. Illinois ranked 43rd on this list and had an overall score of 34.69. Illinois was 43rd in Direct Work Factors and 17th in Indirect Work Factors.

Illinois is 47th in annual volunteer hours per resident.

We know there are hard workers everywhere, including Illinois. For those that are hard workers, don't think is this aimed towards you.

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