Is this the ‘hardest-working’ city in Florida? Here’s how it shapes up

On Tuesday, WalletHub released its list of the “hardest-working” cities in America, looking at which areas of the country put in the most effort.

According to the study, an average U.S. worker puts in just shy of 1,800 work hours per year — 188 hours more than the Japan average, 275 hours more than the U.K. average, and 456 hours more than Germany.

“Hard work is the backbone of America’s economy and a big reason why the country has become so successful, as Americans outwork people in many other developed economies,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “In addition, between 40% and 64% of Americans leave at least some of their allotted vacation time on the table, depending on the city.”

However, some cities have a better penchant for hard work than others, leading WalletHub to compare the 116 largest cities in the country across the following key factors:

• Direct Work Factors (80%) — Includes average workweek hours, employment rate, share of households where no adults work, share of workers leaving vacation time unused, share of engaged workers, and idle youth
• Indirect Work Factors (20%) — Includes average commute time, share of workers with multiple jobs, annual volunteer hours per resident, share of residents who participate in local groups/organizations, and average leisure time spent per day

Overall, the highest-ranking city on the list was Anchorage, Alaska, with Washington, D.C. (No. 2) and Irving, Texas (No. 3) coming close behind.

“Anchorage, AK, residents are the hardest workers in the country, due largely to the fact that it’s one of only five states where the average person works more than 40 hours per week. Anchorage also has a very high employment rate, at nearly 97%, so almost all working-age residents are busy with a job – or even multiple jobs. In fact, 7.6% of workers have multiple jobs, the third-highest rate in the country.

To top things off, the average amount of leisure time that Anchorage residents have in a day ranks as the 8th-lowest among the 116 cities in our study.

Our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., is the second-most hardworking city, in part because it has the highest share of workers who leave vacation time unused, at 64%. Residents of D.C. also work the fourth-most hours per week on average.

People in D.C. are willing to take relatively long commutes to work, at over 30 minutes on average, which adds on to their workday. And outside of work, nearly 31% of the District’s residents are members of local volunteer groups or organizations, places where they put in time without being paid. In addition, D.C. has the eighth-lowest percentage of disconnected youth in the country. Disconnected youth are people ages 16-24 who are neither in school nor working.

Irving, TX, has the third-most hardworking residents, in large part because it has the lowest share of households where no adults work – only around 12%. In addition, Irving ranks sixth in the country in terms of the mean number of hours worked per week.

One consequence of Irving residents’ hard work is the fact that they have a much lower amount of leisure time compared to people in most cities, the sixth-least in the nation. While Irving workers should be applauded for their dedication, it’s also important to avoid overwork and take some time to relax.

Finally, Irving also has the third-highest percentage of engaged workers. Engaged workers are people who show enthusiasm for and commitment to their work, and people who are engaged with their workplace are likely to work harder.”

WalletHub, "Hardest-Working Cities in America"

But what about Florida?

Well, the Sunshine State didn’t manage to even crack the top 10 on this list, with the highest-ranked Florida city being Tampa at No. 30.

Tampa ranked relatively high for its direct work factors, though it — along with the rest of the Florida entries included in the study — fared much more poorly when it came to the indirect factors.

The full ranking of Florida cities on WalletHub’s ranking is as follows: