Study Ranks New York Among Top 3 “Laziest States” in America

Well, this is a little embarrassing...

A new study claims New York isn't one of America's hardest working states, which is a little weird considering we're stereotyped as workaholics.

Some reports have found New Yorkers to be addicted to their job, including one from Rebel’s Guide to Project Management. This report claimed state residents worked the most unpaid overtime in the country last year.

Read More: New Yorkers Worked an Entire Month in Unpaid Overtime in 2023

That finding could explain why New York State reportedly had the unhappiest workers in America last year.

Speaking of 2023, the most popular work trend in the state last year was the "boomerang employee," or those who leave their old job for a seemingly cool new opportunity, only to go back to their old job because the grass wasn't really greener on the other side.

Another study propping up New York's stereotype of being borderline umbilical with work found residents are reaching a stress tipping point a lot faster than rest of the nation.

On a hyper-local level, a new report by A Mission for Michael found 3 of the "most stressed" counties in America are all in Central New York: Cayuga, Hamilton, and Onondaga County.

When it comes to positive things about New York's work/life balance, WalletHub determined it was one of the states with the smallest hiring struggles in America, which makes sense since Forbes said the state has the top 11 best employers in the country.

So, where did we go wrong in the latest WalletHub study of the hardest-working states?

According to them, New York is a downright lazy state and finished in 49th place, only to be outdone by West Virginia.

States were compared on average workweek hours, the number of employees working multiple jobs, unemployment rate, and average leisure time spent per day.

Using this data, New York had the 5th lowest employment rates in America and the longest average commute time, which was found to be 1.9 times longer than South Dakota, which had the shortest.

For those who want the nitty gritty, WalletHub compared states using two categories: Direct Work Factors and Indirect Work Factors, of which New York ranked in 50th and 18th, respectively.

Direct Work Factors pulled data relating to workweek hours, employment rate, share of households where no adults work, share of unused vacation time, number of employed young adults, and how much workers actually enjoy their job.

Indirect Work Factors used average commute time, share of workers with multiple jobs, volunteer hours spent per year, and leisure time spent per day.

Check out the interactive map below to see how other states were ranked.

Considering what prior studies have said about New York's overall work ethic, this is quite an odd finding. Why do you think New York is now suddenly the laziest state?

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