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Which Midwest states are the hardest working, and which aren't?

By Nick Jachim
FOX 2 Detroit
Michigan
Published September 30, 2026 5:14 PM EDT
Published September 30, 2026 5:14 PM EDT

The Brief

    • Michigan ranked last among all 50 states in WalletHub's latest hardest-working states report.
    • Two other Midwest states weren't far behind, with Ohio landing at No. 47 and Illinois at No. 40.
    • South Dakota topped the list as the hardest-working state, with the highest employment rate in the country at nearly 98%, North Dakota finished second.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - While the Midwest may be known traditionally as the strongest, most hard-working region of the country, a new report from WalletHub has actually found that some Midwest states may not be as hard-working as others, with some states finishing at the very bottom.

Hardest-working Midwest states

Dig deeper:

To determine how "hard-working" a state is, WalletHub looked at a variety of categories across all 50 states, including employment rate, average workweek hours, and several others. A score was then given to each state based on these categories and the states were then ranked based on how "hard-working" they are.

Local perspective:

Finishing at the very bottom of the list was Michigan, having ranked poorly in several categories taken into consideration by WalletHub. In particular, Michigan ranked 46th in the country for employment rate.

Not far behind were Illinois and Ohio, with Ohio ranking as the 47th hardest-working state in the country and Illinois at No. 40.

Not all Midwest states fared so poorly. Minnesota finished in the middle of the pack at No. 25, including the 5th lowest percentage of younger residents between the ages of 18 and 24 who were neither working nor going to school.

Wisconsin finished slightly higher at No. 20, just below Indiana (No. 19) and Iowa (No. 18).

Landing at the very top of the list was both North and South Dakota, with the latter being ranked as the hardest-working state in the country. With both states landing near the top for employment rate as well, with South Dakota having a 98% employment rate and North Dakota with a 97% rate.

The rest of the country

The other side:

As for the rest of the country, the top of the list was a good mix of states from all over the U.S. Here are the top 10 hardest working states, according to WalletHub:

  1. South Dakota
  2. North Dakota
  3. Alaska
  4. Hawaii
  5. Wyoming
  6. Nebraska
  7. Texas
  8. New Hampshire
  9. Tennessee
  10. Georgia

The Source: This story uses information from a study done by WalletHub on the Hardest-Working States in America, which they determined based on several factors including employment rate, average workweek hours, and the number of workers with multiple jobs.

MichiganMinnesotaIllinoisWisconsin