(The Center Square) – Colorado recently was ranked one of the most workaholic states, coming in at 10th nationally.
States from across the nation made the top 10, with Louisiana named the most workaholic state. The rest of the top 10, from second most workaholic to the ninth, consisted of Arizona, Kentucky, Alaska, Texas, Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota and Tennessee.
On the other side of the study, California placed 50th.
The study was released by Wave Connect. The rankings are based on job commitment levels, average hours worked and burnout indicators.
George El-Hage, the founder and CEO of Wave Connect, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview that Colorado stood out for a couple reasons. One of those was that 6.2% of the population work multiple jobs.
“One major factor is Colorado’s higher share of residents working multiple jobs,” he said. “Imagine a person juggling two roles — switching schedules, responsibilities and expectations all day. That constant mental load adds up fast, so even if their primary job hours look reasonable, the overall workload can feel overwhelming.”
The report found Coloradans worked an average of 33.3 hours per week. No state was found to have an average of over 40 hours per week, while very few had over 35.
Nationally, the Centennial State was ranked one of the best nationally for work-life balance. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to a good life, according to El-Hage.
“What really stands out is the gap between Colorado’s work-life balance on paper and how people actually feel,” El-Hage explained. “Yes, the state reports more personal time than many others, but the high interest in burnout tells a different story. With rising living costs and the need to juggle multiple income streams, the ‘free time’ people have doesn’t always feel like a chance to truly recharge.”
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In addition to the number of Coloradans with multiple jobs, burnout is a big contributing factor to the state’s placement in the top 10.
“Colorado is the second-highest state for burnout-treatment searches, with 41 searches per 100K residents — one of the highest rates in the country,” El-Hage said. “That might seem surprising for a state with a decent work-life balance score, but when you analyze the numbers further, things become clearer.”
