New research has revealed the states working the short hours, with Delaware coming out on top.

The study by personal finance website Wealth of Geeks analyzed new 2022 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to find which states were working the fewest hours weekly and annually.

It found that Delaware is statistically the state working the shortest hours. A total of 691,655,000 hours were worked in the state in 2022, with 427,178 total jobs. This equates to 1,619 hours worked per job annually, or 31.14 hours worked per job weekly, the lowest of any state. 

Montana takes second on the list, with 766,790,000 hours worked and 471,961 jobs. Putting these two numbers together equals 1,625 hours worked annually per job or 31.24 hours worked weekly. 

Coming in a joint third on the list are Wisconsin and New York. Wisconsin has 2,778,464 jobs with 4,572,671,000 hours worked in 2022, equal to 1,646 hours worked annually per job or 31.65 hours worked weekly. The state of New York takes the same position, with 14,296,359,000 hours worked in 2022 for a total of 8,687,612 jobs, equal to 1,646 annual hours worked per job or 31.65 hours per job. 

Utah comes in a close fourth place on the list, with 1,646 hours worked annually per job, or 31.66 hours worked weekly. This is due to a total of 2,514,047,000 hours worked with 1,527,161 jobs.

Rounding out the top five is the state of Rhode Island, which has 773,530,000 hours worked in 2022 with 468,776 total jobs. This equals 1,650 hours worked annually per job or 31.73 hours worked weekly. 

Commenting on the findings, Michael Dinich, the founder of Wealth of Geeks, said: “While certain states have huge amounts of hours worked compared to others when you look at the number of total jobs they have, clear differences in the states can be seen. Around half of the states in this list sit in the east of the country, and it will be interesting to see whether this trend continues in the future and whether these numbers influence people’s work-life balance.”