Compare Your Work Week With the Top 10 Hardest Working Cities
By the time Friday rolls around, we all feel like we’ve had the longest workweek (+ commute) of our lives. After cramming work, kids, girls’ night and more between early morning meetings and late evening brainstorm sessions, it sort of feels like we’re running on E by the time the weekend rolls around, only for us to recharge on Saturday and Sunday in order to start the roller coaster all over. For those wanting to brag, new research has unveiled the hardest working cities in the US. But the criteria for that honor may leave the victors far from actually coveting that W.
A recent study released by the Office of the New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer identified New York City as the hardest working metro in the US. Before you throw a parade for The Big Apple, you’ll want to check the deciding factors, as this research doc may need a new title: The City With the Longest Work Week. That’s because the rankings of 30 of the largest cities were determined by combining the average hours spent at work with the average time spent commuting to + from the office. Oh, those inescapable commutes.
According to the report, New York workers spend an average of 42.5 hours on the job, which is actually on par with the median office hours in Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Dallas and more. However, New Yorkers took the cake for average time spent commuting every week — that would be six-plus hours — which is ultimately what catapulted the city to number one. Six hours — that’s literally longer than the entire first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
With other cities’ averages ranging from 41 to 43 hours a week, San Francisco’s workforce topped the chart when it came to time spent at the office with 44 hours. So while we may be a little biased, we think SF people work pretty freakin’ hard ;)
Commuting averages varied from three hours (Charlotte, Austin, San Antonio and more) to five hours (Chicago and Philadelphia) — with the supreme commuting city, New York, holding strong at six. But for those thinking a shorter commute would equate to more time spent at the desk, that assumption would be wrong. The study found “a positive correlation between the average number of work hours and the average number of commuting hours across cities. The more time one spends at work, the more time they are likely to spend commuting and vice versa.” So think of it this way: Commute less, work less (but with the same results). Find out if your city made the “hardest” working city list below.
Top 10 Hardest Working Cities
1. New York, NY
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Houston, TX
5. Fort Worth, TX
6. Chicago, IL
7. Boston, MA
8. Charlotte, NC
9. Baltimore, MD
10. Seattle, WA
Check out the full report here.
What city do you work in and how long is your workweek? Let us know in the comments.
(Photos via Janne Moren, Dave Sutherland, Total Due + Peter Thoeny)