The U.S. States that work the hardest
- Thread starter GON
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There could also be demographics at work here. If somone's lucky enough to have gotten a 2.8% mortgage during Covid there'll be a lot of friction with regard to moving closer to work if opportunity goes 20 miles further up the road. Some regions have "hire for life" jobs while others require lateral movements every couple of years to get ahead.
I won't say someone's poor, dumb, nor ambitious or hard working for having a long commute. They probably have a good reason, and if it's not financial it's because their SO works in the other direction, the kids are in a school they like with a social circle, etc. The housing market's tight and there's a lot of friction with regard to moving, paying realtors, etc.
I know OP likes as a thought experiment to pick a place to live "by the numbers" but there are unquantifiable aspects to home and work life that can't be mapped.
He's my friend and I was going to point this out.Its fake news garbage internet AI generated worthless trash.
Gon posting alot of these types of things recently.
I get it. I do.
They are both "hard", physically and mentally demanding in their own right, but different aspects of hard. Manual labor is certainly difficult, but so is M & A, high level analysis and legal work and most sr. exec responsibilities, as a few examples, are also difficult and mentally draining. I'd argue being a young auditor or someone trying to get on the partnership track at a competitive law firm or similar is as "hard" as a lot of manual labor between the work itself and others' expectations, but again a different aspect of hard. I've also done both, but then again I've never wanted to go back to that old mill's shipping/receiving dock
One of the biggest difference is manual labor tends to stay at work...
Not disagree. I quantify "hard" as not giving you the joy but a bunch of stress and pain instead. We all experience joy, stress, and pain differently.
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I would not call people dumb or ambitious just because they value one aspect of life vs another. Maybe "being priced out" is a better term to describe it. What I do not agree with is using commute hour as hard work index. It is really more of an inequality index or affordability index instead.
It is not something to brag about and white wash it as hard working like that chart said.
Let's say that I have never seen someone committing suicide from manual labor work but I have seen example of fund managers and executives jumping out of buildings.They are both "hard", physically and mentally demanding in their own right, but different aspects of hard. Manual labor is certainly difficult, but so is M & A, high level analysis and legal work and most sr. exec responsibilities, as a few examples, are also difficult and mentally draining. I'd argue being a young auditor or someone trying to get on the partnership track at a competitive law firm or similar is as "hard" as a lot of manual labor between the work itself and others' expectations, but again a different aspect of hard. I've also done both, but then again I've never wanted to go back to that old mill's shipping/receiving dock
One of the biggest difference is manual labor tends to stay at work...
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https://wallethub.com/edu/hardest-working-states-in-america/52400
I assume the graphic is taken from this study, it lists their methodology. Studies like this are usually pretty subjective depending on the metrics used, but it's hard to deny unemployment rates, hours worked, etc aren't meaningful ones.
Quality of life, work vs home time, etc would be separate studies that are done by others. Since this one is work only, those metrics should not be considered.
I assume the graphic is taken from this study, it lists their methodology. Studies like this are usually pretty subjective depending on the metrics used, but it's hard to deny unemployment rates, hours worked, etc aren't meaningful ones.
Quality of life, work vs home time, etc would be separate studies that are done by others. Since this one is work only, those metrics should not be considered.
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GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Not sure how fake or real it is.
Although I have lived in a bunch of states, I don't know the deep dive demographics of many states.
When I saw New Mexico rating on the chart, it made perfect sense that New Mexico ranked so very low on the "hard working state" scale. New Mexico is the highest food stamp entitlement per capita in the nation. New Mexico has a large population of multi-generation folks that don't work, are rewarded for not working to include free healthcare without applying for it, and that is actually a sad life. Recently a watched a video of an adult male from one of these multi-generational areas of not working, and he stated the governmental entitlements actually were detrimental and counterproductive to his community.
About 60-90 minutes north of Phoenix is the greater Anthem, AZ area. Anthem is where they are building multi-billion-dollar chip factories (Taiwan). The greater Phoenix area is vastly wealthy and is doing economically well. I had asked myself, why not build the chip factories just a few hundred miles away in some of these desperate for work areas in New Mexico? You can update the community college to teach the technical aspects of working in a high-tech chip manufacturing plant. The airport would likely see an increase in flights, hope for a community that hasn't produced in generations.
Maybe the chart is in fact more accurate than we want to acknowledge, if we do some fact finding, and take an impartial and open look.
Agree!
If you're twenty something, no house, no kids and single, then moving on the promise of a better position would be an easy call.
If you're thirties or forties and have a house, spouse and kids it becomes much harder.
Wife and I both had twenty five mile each way commutes during our working years. I knew many who endured much longer ones.
If you are established in a community and like where you live and have a family, then moving becomes a lot more complicated while accepting a longer commute is a less daunting choice.
My worst day in high tech was far easier than my best day doing manual labor. My "prior life" was hard, dangerous and not very financially rewarding. Because of that, Silicon Valley politics and demands were a walk in the park.
Not too many blown up kneecaps in Silicon Valley offices. Not too many benefits in manual labor.