The Most Dangerous Jobs and States to Work In (and Interesting Injuries)

The Most Dangerous Jobs and States to Work In (and Noteworthy Injuries)

dangerous jobs

As 2026 unfolds, many graduates are experiencing the all-too-familiar post-graduation anxiety. If you’ve ever shared this feeling with your friends and family (or perhaps even your pets), you’re likely familiar with the mix of supportive encouragement and unsolicited career advice that follows.

We’ve all heard the cliché phrases:

”Follow your passion, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
”Do what you love, and love what you do.”
”Consider a career in poultry processing in Arkansas, or you might end up with a finger in someone’s fast food!”

dangerous jobs

The last one might be a bit extreme, but there’s some truth behind it. Our research indicates that certain states are considerably more hazardous for workers, and specific jobs within those states carry greater physical risks than others.

While it’s common to feel overwhelmed at work, remember that metaphorically losing your mind is still preferable to experiencing a serious injury.

We analyzed 19,937 reports since 2015 to identify the most dangerous states for employment. Below, you’ll find a visual representation of the most perilous job sectors in each state, followed by some of the more noteworthy injuries — literally, in some cases.

dangerous jobs

Scroll down to discover your state’s most dangerous job and its ranking in various “danger categories.” Here are the ten most hazardous industries overall:

Roofing and Construction Contractors
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
Oil and Gas Operations
Postal Service
Grocery Stores
Electrical Contractors
Road Workers
Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning
Warehouse Workers
Poultry Processing

How We Identified the Most Dangerous Jobs and States

To assess the risk of serious injury in each state, we calculated the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) injury reports per employed person in that state — focusing on incidents that require hospitalization or result in loss of a body part.

We further factored in each state’s on-the-job fatality rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, treating fatalities as a separate variable given the stark contrast between minor injuries and loss of life.

We also considered the potential dangers during the average commute, which lasts about 26 minutes each way. Although employers typically do not report these incidents, data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety provided us with the number of accidents resulting in injury for every mile driven in each state — though we assigned it less weight in our analysis.

However, if you find yourself falling in a parking lot, as 245 people did in 2015, that’s a different case — which is why northern states received a slight danger increase for such incidents.

A Touch of Schadenfreude

scha·den·freu·de
ˈSHädənˌfroidə/
noun
Pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune.

While no one finds joy in the suffering of others, especially when it leads to hospitalization, some injury reports are particularly memorable:

Because monkeys are amusing — An employee was removing a Rhesus monkey from a rig. As she unfastened the last head post, the monkey bit her small finger.
With a what? — A customer assaulted an employee with a window squeegee and a punch before fleeing the scene.
Remember this the next time you have a silly team-building exercise — During a sales competition, an employee injured her knee while participating in a “minute to win it” game that involved twisting her waist to release balls from a Kleenex box.
Because… um… — An employee injured his groin when he fell approximately six feet off a ladder.
That’s what you get for scaring people — An employee tripped over a broom handle while exiting a room, causing another employee to throw her keys, hitting the first employee in the eye.
The rise of the robots! — A maintenance worker entered a robot cell to troubleshoot an issue. He either fell off the work platform or was struck by it or the robot, resulting in a compound fracture of his right leg and significant soft tissue damage to his right shoulder.
Hungry, hungry, hippo — An employee was collecting saliva from a hippo when the hippo’s mouth closed on his left pinky finger, resulting in amputation.
Slipped on the paint? — An employee cleaning after the Blue Man Show slipped and fell on her wrist, requiring hospital admission for surgery.
Don’t mess with baby pandas — An employee was bitten on the left forearm by a mother panda while swapping twin baby pandas.
Eh, not really a surprise — An employee suffered leg burns while pouring gasoline on a burning pile of wood.
Sometimes, the horse breaks back — An employee breaking a horse was injured when the horse ran into the metal railing of the pen, fracturing his knee.
The HR guy writing the report must not have liked him — An employee tripped over his own feet, fell, and fractured his hip, leading to hospitalization.
Horseplay is actually an OSHA category — An employee sustained burns on his upper buttocks due to horseplay with coworkers.

Well, some suffering can indeed be a bit amusing.

Why This Study on Dangerous Jobs Matters

While studies like this have been conducted in the past, they were often limited by their reliance on factors like Social Security Disability claims and leave days, which vary significantly from state to state.

Starting January 2015, OSHA mandated that employers report all work-related fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses, even if they were previously exempt due to company size or industry. This shift is crucial, as it broadened the reporting scope beyond just fatalities and hospitalizations involving three or more individuals.

The Most Dangerous Industries in Each State

State	Overall “Most Dangerous Rank”	State’s Most Dangerous Industry	Injury Rate Rank	Death Rate Rank	Commuting Danger Rank
Montana	1	Sawmills	21	3	1
South Dakota	2	Frozen Food Manufacturing	7	12	6
Wyoming	3	US Park Services	30	1	4
Louisiana	4	Oil and Gas Support	13	7	15
Texas	5	Oil and Gas Support	11	14	10
North Dakota	6	Oil and Gas Support	1	2	33
Oklahoma	7	Oil and Gas Support	14	8	20
Arkansas	8	Poultry Processing	2	5	35
Kansas	9	Slaughterhouse	6	15	22
Alabama	10	Poultry Processing	5	25	14
Mississippi	11	Sawmills	3	4	41
Georgia	12	Poultry Processing	15	19	17
New Mexico	13	US Border Patrol	32	16	8
Missouri	14	US Postal Service	19	18	21
Idaho	15	Logging	35	9	19
West Virginia	16	Oil and Gas Support	12	13	36
Nebraska	17	Slaughterhouse	4	11	46
New Hampshire	18	Ski Lift Operation	23	37	3
Illinois	19	Hospitals	20	34	9
Wisconsin	20	Construction	8	24	34
Utah	21	Military Contractor	39	30	2
Florida	22	Roofing	16	28	24
Pennsylvania	23	Hospitals	10	31	26
Hawaii	24	Cargo Handling	29	35	7
North Carolina	25	US Postal Service	45	26	5
South Carolina	26	US Postal Service	42	6	32
Ohio	27	Plastic Manufacturing	9	23	42
Alaska	28	Waste Collection	33	17	29
Kentucky	29	Ship Repair	34	10	37
Indiana	30	US Postal Service	49	22	12
Iowa	31	US Postal Service	47	20	16
Virginia	32	Ship Repair	31	36	23
Delaware	33	Poultry Processing	22	49	18
Tennessee	34	US Postal Service	36	21	38
Connecticut	35	Hospitals	27	38	28
Minnesota	36	US Postal Service	46	40	11
Colorado	37	Oil and Gas Support	17	32	47
California	38	US Postal Service	44	46	13
Massachusetts	39	Hospitals	25	48	27
New York	40	Hospitals	28	42	31
Maine	41	Sawmills	18	43	44
Washington	42	US Postal Service	38	47	25
Oregon	43	US Forest Service	37	44	30
Michigan	44	US Postal Service	48	29	39
Vermont	45	US Postal Service	43	33	40
Nevada	46	US Forest Service	50	27	45
New Jersey	47	Hospitals	26	45	49
Arizona	48	US Border Patrol	41	39	43
Rhode Island	49	Hospitals	24	50	48
Maryland	50	Research and Development	40	41	50

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Author

David Luther

David Luther was the Content Marketing Editor for the Zippia Advice blog. He developed partnerships with external reporting agencies in addition to generating original research and reporting for the Zippia Career Advice blog. David obtained his BA from UNC Chapel Hill.

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