Is New Jersey Really Among The Least Hard Working States For 2021?

Nobody has to tell you that you work hard. The Jersey Shore is a place where the residents aren't afraid to get our hands dirty, and we all want to make a better life for our kids. So, we work hard. Every day and all week long. So when it comes to hard working states, you have to figure we're among the top, right? Wrong.

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It turns out New Jersey doesn't work as hard as we think we do. At least not according to some recent research. WalletHub ranked each state in the nation. and the Garden State didn't do nearly as well as we thought we would.

As a matter of fact, it turns out we're among 2021's least hard working states in the nation. Hold on a minute. Now it's starting to feel a little personal. Just how bad did we do on this list?

How does 42nd hardest working state sound? Not too good, right? So what is the data that landed us so far down the hard working list this year?

The study used factors like employment stats, unused vacation time, households with no adult workers and average work week hours. You might read those categories and still think we'd do well.

But one factor, employment, is so out of whack for the Garden State right now, it might just make this whole thing a little blurry for 2021. We did get hit harder than other states in the past year and a half.

Other indirect factors were included, too, like leisure time and commute time, but the Garden State suffered most due to factors directly related to work, ranking 42nd in the direct work category.

So, we'll all just lick our wounds after this shot at our pride, and wonder just how hard the 41 states above us have to work if we're busting our butts the way we do.