Texas cities dominate list of the hardest working places in the US, report says

Texas cities account for nearly half of the top 20 hardest working cities in America, according to a new report released Monday.

It’s no secret that Americans know how to get the job done.

In 2019, the American worker put in an average 1,779 hours of work — more than workers in Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and several other countries, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

But where are people working the hardest in the U.S.?

Personal finance website WalletHub released its list of the hardest working cities in America and eight of the top 20 are in Texas.

Irving, Austin and Corpus Christi all landed in the top 10 at Nos. 5, 7 and 9, respectively.

Texas cities making the top 20 include Plano at No. 11 followed by Dallas at No. 13., Fort Worth at No. 16, Garland at No. 18 and Arlington at No. 20

Anchorage, Alaska, took the top spot. Rounding out the top four were: Cheyenne, Wyoming; Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Washington, D.C.

To determine its ranking, WalletHub assessed 116 of the most populous cities in the U.S. on 11 factors across two categories: direct and indirect work factors. At least one city from each state was included.

Texas cities ranked best in the direct work factors category, which looked at average work hours, employment rate and share of workers leaving vacation time unused, among other factors, the report said.

Austin nabbed the No. 2 spot in the category and Irving landed at No. 4. Irving also had the lowest share of households where no adults work at 11.18%, according to the report.

Plano ranked at No. 8 followed by Corpus Christi at No. 9. Dallas landed at No. 11, Fort Worth at No. 15 with Arlington, Houston and Garland landing at No. 18, 19 and 20, respectively.

No Texas cities ranked in the top 20 for indirect working factors, which assessed cities on factors such as average commute time, share of workers with multiple jobs and annual volunteer hours per resident.

The American work-life balance

Research has found that Americans work 25% more hours than their European counterparts, WalletHub reported, something experts attribute to an undervaluation of leisure time and the decline of labor unions.

“Unions not only bargain for humane scheduling but historically lobby for wage and hour regulations to shorten the workday,” Cesar F. Rosado Marzan, a professor a University of Iowa, told WalletHub. “That was, after all, the main demand of the modern labor movement — the 8-hour day. In Europe, we have seen some countries set 5-hour days, all thanks to great efforts by labor organizations.”

Research has also suggested an increase in the average American workday since March 2020, the personal finance website said.

L. Camille Hebert, a professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic may well have blurred the lines between work and leisure.

“Our ‘offices’ are now in our bedrooms and kitchens, on our dining room tables, and in our pockets,” she told WalletHub. “We may not ‘go to work,’ but we also never come home from work. We are always available to answer an email or a text and therefore do not have sufficient down-time.”

She said working more hours doesn’t automatically beget higher productivity, and that paid sick and family leave as well as more flexible work arrangements could improve the American worker’s quality of life.