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Working hard or hardly working?
If you’re like most American workers the answer is you’re working pretty hard! However, there is no denying that some cities have a more “dog eat dog” pace? Curious if your city (and you!) are one of them? Or maybe you long for a city with a better work-life balance?
You’re in luck, we hit the data to find the city in each state where workers are burning the candle at both ends.
First let’s check out the 10 cities with the hardest workers.
10 Hardest Working Places
- Sudley, Virginia
- Forney, Texas
- College Park, Maryland
- Gardere, Louisiana
- Allendale, Michigan
- Commerce City, Colorado
- Immokalee, Florida
- Lexington, Nebraska
- North Bay Shore, New York
- Coachella, California
These are the 10 cities where workers are putting in the most sweat and toil. Your state not in the top 10? Keep scrolling to see what city is the hardest working in your state- or keep reading to see what makes these cities so hard working.
Methodology
To determine the hardest working cities in each state, we ranked just shy of 4,000 cities on:
- Average Hours Worked
- Average Commute Time
- Workers per Household (Employed labor force divided by the number of households)
- Labor Force Participation Rate
While time may not always equal work output, it is a good look into just how much of their lives people spend making a living (or getting to work -to- make a living). To measure time spend working, we looked into both average hours worked and average daily commute.
After that, we examined the workers per household and the percent of residents in each location who are part of the labor force. The more of each, the harder working the city.
Based on the above criteria, we ranked each city in America, the higher a city ranked in any of these areas, the more hardworking, we determined, it was. We the ranked the cities in each state from the most to the least hardworking.
All of our data came from the most recent ACS Census survey.
Before we get to the full list of hardest working cities, let’s take a closer look at the 10 hardest working cities in the country:
1. Sudley, Virginia
Hours Worked: 42
Commute: 24.7
Workers Per Household: 2.0
Sudley, Virginia is a busy, hard working suburb of DC. On average, Sudley workers aren’t working 9-5- in fact altogether the average work week is 42 hours. Toss in an average commute of 50 minutes daily and it’s easy to see Sudley workers deserve a nap.
2. Forney, Texas
Hours Worked: 43
Commute: 21.7
Workers Per Household: 1.8
The second hardest working city in the country is Forney. Folks in this Texas city work 43 hours a week on average. That extra 3 hours from the typical 40 hour work week is an extra 12 hours each month- and an extra 144 hours a year.
3. College Park, Maryland
Hours Worked: 45
Commute: 29.0
Workers Per Household: 1.9
College Park, Maryland is the 3rd hardest working city in the US. Another Washington DC suburb, judging from the numbers College Park’s motto may be “work hard and worker harder.” College Park’s average work day is an hour longer than most places, toss in long commutes, and high workers per household and it’s easy to see College Park residents know what it’s like to work hard.
4. Gardere, Louisiana
Hours Worked: 44
Commute: 25.3
Workers Per Household: 1.6
Gardere has an impressive labor force participation rate, with more adults working here than almost anywhere else. All those working adults are putting in long hours on the clock, too. These states make Gardere the hardest working city in Louisiana.
5. Allendale, Michigan
Hours Worked: 43
Commute: 19.4
Workers Per Household: 1.9
The 5th hardest working city is Allendale, Michigan. Located 10 miles outside of Grand Rapids, many workers are trekking to the city for work and when they get there they are putting in long hours. On average each household has 1.9 working members.
6. Commerce City, Colorado
Hours Worked: 42
Commute: 24.8
Workers Per Household: 1.7
Denver may be considered a chill place, but its suburb of Commerce City is no stranger to hard work. The average commute in Commerce City is 24.8 miles one way. That’s in addition to the average 42 hour work week.
7. Immokalee, Florida
Hours Worked: 41
Commute: 34.7
Workers Per Household: 1.7
Immokalee is the hardest working city in Florida- and the 7th hardest working city nationally. What pushed Immokalee above other hard working Florida cities? The back-breaking commute. On average, Immokalee residents are spending an hour in their car just coming to and from work. Not only is that hard on the wallet, it’s also hard work.
8. Lexington, Nebraska
Hours Worked: 42
Commute: 25.1
Workers Per Household: 1.7
Residents in Lexington, Nebraska are no stranger to hard work. Long hours, toiling commutes, and a bigger chunk of working residents (labor participation) that most places prove Lexington is a city of hard workers.
9. North Bay Shore, New York
Hours Worked: 41
Commute: 36.8
Workers Per Household: 1.7
New York is known as a fast-paced, bustling state, but where do the hardest workers in the state live? The answer isn’t the Big Apple, it’s North Bay Shore. The 40 hour work week isn’t the norm here, they work a whole extra hour. What really shows the impressive North Bay Shore work ethic though? The average, 37 minute commute each way. That’s an extra 74 minutes above their work day, just going to work. Sounds exhausting.
10. Coachella, California
Hours Worked: 42
Commute: 32.1
Workers Per Household: 1.7
Coachella may be known nationally for the prominent music festival, but it should also known as a place where a lot of hard workers call home. In fact, the city is home to the hardest workers in California, not Silicon Valley or LA.
These Cities Could Use A Raise- Or A Nice Vacation!
There you have it, the 10 hardest working cities in the US. From work weeks above and beyond, lengthy commutes, and a bigger chunk of residents actually working in most places, these cities are no stranger to hard work. They know the sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
Hopefully, all that hard work pays off with nice raises! Better yet, we hope residents in these hard working cities take a healthy amount of vacations each year to refresh and unwind.
You can see a breakdown of the hardest working city in each state below:
Hardest Working City In Each State
| State | City | Hours Worked | Commute | Workers Per Household |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Calera | 43 | 18 | 1 |
| Alaska | College | 45 | 11 | 1 |
| Arizona | Flagstaff | 42 | 19 | 2 |
| Arkansas | Centerton | 44 | 13 | 1 |
| California | Coachella | 42 | 32 | 1 |
| Colorado | Commerce City | 42 | 24 | 1 |
| Connecticut | Stamford | 40 | 14 | 1 |
| Delaware | Bear | 42 | 23 | 1 |
| Florida | Immokalee | 41 | 34 | 1 |
| Georgia | Lithia Springs | 43 | 18 | 1 |
| Hawaii | Kapolei | 41 | 12 | 1 |
| Idaho | Kuna | 41 | 15 | 1 |
| Illinois | Plano | 42 | 13 | 2 |
| Indiana | Plainfield | 43 | 18 | 1 |
| Iowa | Grimes | 41 | 16 | 1 |
| Kansas | Dodge City | 42 | 13 | 1 |
| Kentucky | Francisville | 42 | 5 | 1 |
| Louisiana | Gardere | 44 | 25 | 1 |
| Maine | Portland | 41 | 13 | 1 |
| Maryland | College Park | 45 | 29 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | Somerville | 42 | 15 | 1 |
| Michigan | Allendale | 43 | 19 | 1 |
| Minnesota | North Branch | 42 | 14 | 1 |
| Mississippi | Horn Lake | 43 | 15 | 1 |
| Missouri | Spanish Lake | 42 | 18 | 1 |
| Montana | Bozeman | 42 | 13 | 1 |
| Nebraska | Lexington | 42 | 25 | 1 |
| Nevada | Enterprise | 42 | 15 | 1 |
| New Hampshire | Londonderry | 40 | 9 | 1 |
| New Jersey | Harrison | 42 | 16 | 1 |
| New Mexico | Hobbs | 47 | 13 | 1 |
| New York | North Bay Shore | 41 | 36 | 1 |
| North Carolina | Waxhaw | 42 | 17 | 1 |
| North Dakota | Williston | 50 | 15 | 1 |
| Ohio | New Albany | 45 | 10 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | Guymon | 42 | 12 | 1 |
| Oregon | Aloha | 41 | 14 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | West Chester | 42 | 14 | 1 |
| Rhode Island | Central Falls | 42 | 19 | 1 |
| South Carolina | Hanahan | 42 | 18 | 1 |
| South Dakota | Vermillion | 43 | 16 | 1 |
| Tennessee | La Vergne | 42 | 16 | 1 |
| Texas | Forney | 43 | 21 | 1 |
| Utah | Kearns | 41 | 18 | 2 |
| Vermont | Burlington | 42 | 11 | 1 |
| Virginia | Sudley | 42 | 24 | 2 |
| Washington | Monroe | 46 | 14 | 1 |
| West Virginia | Teays Valley | 39 | 21 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | Platteville | 43 | 24 | 1 |
| Wyoming | Gillette | 45 | 14 | 1 |
Author
Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.
