Colorado is a world-famous outdoor playground, so when considering the cliche “work hard, play hard,” the play hard has plenty of resonance here.
And, according to , so does the “work hard” part. Colorado is the eighth hardest working state in the country.
How does a study determine which state is the hardest working? (WalletHub gives that distinction to Alaska.) Researchers took 10 criteria into account, giving points in each category and then tallying the final score.
Direct work factors included, with Colorado’s ranking in parentheses, Average Workweek Hours (14th), Employment Rate (4th), Share of Households where No Adults Work, Share of Workers Leaving Vacation Time Unused, Share of Engage Workers, and Idle Youth (ages 16-24) Rate.
Indirect work factors included Average Commute Time (19th), Share of Workers with Multiple Jobs (19th), Annual Volunteer Hours per Resident (18th), and Average Leisure Time Spent per Day (13th).
Colorado’s high employment rate — fourth best in the nation — factored heavily into it finishing in the Top 10.
In general, Americans are hard workers. On average, the American worker puts in 1,783 hours on the job each year. That’s about 300 hours more than in Germany but 450 hours less than in Mexico, according to the World Economic Forum.
Rounding out the Top 10 of the hardest working states:
- Alaska
- North Dakota
- Wyoming
- South Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- Texas
- Colorado
- Virginia
- Kansas
