California’s hardest working — and laziest — cities revealed in new ranking

San Franciscans are some of the hardest workers in the US, while Southern Californians have a lot of work to do.

A new WalletHub ranking of America’s hardest working cities found SF residents grind the most out of any in the Golden State, landing them at No. 8 on the nationwide list.

In the Bay Area, nearby Fremont came in at No. 13, while San Jose and Oakland fell to 53rd and 56th, respectively.

Cheyenne, Wyo., took the top spot overall, followed by Anchorage, Alaska; Washington, D.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Irving, Texas rounding out the top five.

Not a single Southern California city appeared in the rankings until Santa Ana the No. 70 spot, followed by San Diego at 71.

Los Angeles came in at a lowly 86th, two spots behind nearby Long Beach.

Since 2009, Los Angeles has consistently ranked as having one of the lowest employment rates in the nation, except for a slight increase between 2016-2018.

Even worse than LA were cities in California’s Central Valley, including Bakersfield (101), Stockton (102) and Fresno (107).

To determine the rankings, WalletHub compared 116 of the most populous cities using “Direct Work Factors” and “Indirect Work Factors.”

They included average hours worked per week, employment rate and vacation time, along with average commute time and the share of workers with more than one job. It also looked at the average amount of leisure time that a worker had per day.

“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,” 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.”

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe, according to the study. 

“While working long hours, minimizing time off, and having side jobs all lead to increased productivity, they can also have negative effects on people’s physical and mental health,” Lupo added. “It’s important for people to figure out how to work hard without overworking.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters