Washington, D.C. topped the list of hardest-working cities in the U.S. in a study released by Kempler Industries, an Illinois-based machinery trade company.
The study analyzed data pertaining to approximately 200 cities that have a minimum population of 150,000, obtaining those from the Census Bureau.
The cities were evaluated according to five different metrics: Average commute, average working hours weekly, the percentage of people between the ages 16 and 64 in the workforce, the percentage of the senior workforce population and the percentage of unused vacation days.
Getting an overall score of 90 points out of 100, the District is over the national average in terms of commute time, workweek hours and percentage of seniors still in the workforce.
Following D.C., Texas stands out on the list by putting seven of its cities among the top 10, with Plano, Texas, ranking second, Dallas, Grand Prairie, Houston, Garland, Irving and Arlington coming third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively. The only exceptions to Texas’ domination are San Francisco on the seventh spot and New York at No. 10, in addition to D.C.
According to the research, all seven Texas cities that made the top 10 have at least 20 percent or more of their senior population still in the workforce. Texans living in those cities are also commuting for longer hours. Six out of the seven Texas cities, excluding Irving, has an average time of commuting over the national average, which is 26.4 minutes.
Commenting on the D.C.’s ranking as the hardest-working U.S. city, some residents complained about the conditions in the capital, saying they have to work hard to be able to afford living here.
https://twitter.com/mos_jckmos/status/1157722004725915648?s=20
Counterpoint: You might have no choice but to work more than 9-5 because how else are you affording to be able to say you live there??”
— Marlena Jareaux (@MJareaux) August 3, 2019