How much do Sacramento residents work? Commute? New study ranks hardest working cities in US
How hard do people work in Sacramento?
WalletHub recently released its 2025 list of the Hardest-Working Cities in America, ranking 116 large cities based on average work weeks, commute lengths, employment rates and other metrics.
According to the personal finance website, Sacramento landed near the bottom of the list.
In the United States, workers clock an average of about 34.1 hours per week, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On average, U.S. residents work 1,799 hours per year, WalletHub said. That’s more than their counterparts in Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“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,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in a Feb. 25 article. “It’s important for people to figure out how to work hard without overworking.”
How hard do Sacramento residents work?
Sacramento was No. 100 on WalletHub’s list of the hardest-working large cities in the nation with an overall score of 54.7 out of 100, trailing far behind San Francisco and other Bay Area communities.
Sacramento is the sixth largest city in California in terms of population, with 526,384 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
California’s capital city has a labor force of 282,134 people with an unemployment rate of 4.9%, according to the city of Sacramento’s website.
On average, Sacramento residents work 37.8 hours per work week, and spend 25.6 minutes commuting to their jobs, according to the WalletHub study.
About 4.7% of Sacramento residents hold multiple jobs, compared to 5.3% of U.S. residents, WalletHub said.
Meanwhile, 25.3% of Sacramento households have no working adults, the study found.
On average, Sacramento residents spend 5.68 hours per day doing sports and leisure activities, WalletHub said, above the national average of five hours per day.
How did other California cities rank?
A total of 13 California cities landed on WalletHub’s list, with San Francisco landing at No. 9, the highest of any Golden State city.
Other California cities ranked lower than Sacramento on WalletHub’s list, with Bakersfield landing at No. 103, Stockton at No. 104, San Bernardino at No. 105 and Fresno coming in at No. 108.
What are top 10 hardest-working cities in US?
These were the top 10 cities in the United States where people worked the most, according to the latest WalletHub study:
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Washington, DC
- Irving, Texas
- Dallas
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Austin, Texas
- Denver
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- San Francisco
- Arlington, Texas
What are the 10 least hardest-working cities in the US?
These were the 10 U.S. cities where workers were the most laidback, according to WalletHub:
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Columbia, South Carolina
- Fresno
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Toledo, Ohio
- Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Newark, New Jersey
- Buffalo, New York
- Detroit, Michigan
How did WalletHub come up with its findings?
To determine the hardest working cities in the United States, WalletHub compared the 116 largest cities across 11 key metrics.
These included:
- Average work week hours
- Employment rate
- Share of households where no adults work
- Share of workers leaving vacation time unused
- Average commute time
- Annual volunteer hours per resident
- Average leisure time spent per day
WalletHub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Travel Association and Gallup. Researchers also cited the Social Science Research Council and Corporation for National & Community Service.