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In 2016, North Dakota had the highest employment–population ratio among the states, with 69.2 percent of the civilian working-age population employed. Four other states from the West North Central Census division rounded out the five highest statewide employment–population ratios: Nebraska (67.3 percent), South Dakota, Iowa (67.0 percent), and Minnesota (66.8 percent). West Virginia had the lowest employment–population ratio among the states (50.0 percent), as it has every year since this data series began in 1976.
State | Employment | Civilian noninstitutional population | Employment–population ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama |
2,038,775 | 3,816,102 | 53.4% |
Alaska |
336,620 | 545,586 | 61.7 |
Arizona |
3,066,264 | 5,373,502 | 57.1 |
Arkansas |
1,288,994 | 2,310,506 | 55.8 |
California |
18,065,043 | 30,668,583 | 58.9 |
Colorado |
2,795,233 | 4,323,427 | 64.7 |
Connecticut |
1,795,519 | 2,870,300 | 62.6 |
Delaware |
451,973 | 756,092 | 59.8 |
District of Columbia |
368,846 | 559,927 | 65.9 |
Florida |
9,358,571 | 16,615,517 | 56.3 |
Georgia |
4,656,255 | 7,886,360 | 59.0 |
Hawaii |
664,690 | 1,093,285 | 60.8 |
Idaho |
783,434 | 1,273,307 | 61.5 |
Illinois |
6,154,867 | 10,031,244 | 61.4 |
Indiana |
3,179,806 | 5,145,338 | 61.8 |
Iowa |
1,638,288 | 2,444,678 | 67.0 |
Kansas |
1,422,122 | 2,210,930 | 64.3 |
Kentucky |
1,892,273 | 3,458,277 | 54.7 |
Louisiana |
1,992,125 | 3,587,429 | 55.5 |
Maine |
664,010 | 1,094,802 | 60.7 |
Maryland |
3,034,131 | 4,726,239 | 64.2 |
Massachusetts |
3,455,827 | 5,528,119 | 62.5 |
Michigan |
4,599,049 | 7,896,171 | 58.2 |
Minnesota |
2,884,091 | 4,317,092 | 66.8 |
Mississippi |
1,205,779 | 2,285,371 | 52.8 |
Missouri |
2,970,702 | 4,757,894 | 62.4 |
Montana |
504,573 | 824,410 | 61.2 |
Nebraska |
978,567 | 1,454,377 | 67.3 |
Nevada |
1,346,008 | 2,296,985 | 58.6 |
New Hampshire |
727,420 | 1,090,036 | 66.7 |
New Jersey |
4,299,931 | 7,092,168 | 60.6 |
New Mexico |
864,912 | 1,609,577 | 53.7 |
New York |
9,121,323 | 15,817,666 | 57.7 |
North Carolina |
4,629,329 | 7,891,982 | 58.7 |
North Dakota |
403,067 | 582,149 | 69.2 |
Ohio |
5,430,790 | 9,139,843 | 59.4 |
Oklahoma |
1,739,362 | 2,987,732 | 58.2 |
Oregon |
1,954,821 | 3,282,991 | 59.5 |
Pennsylvania |
6,120,029 | 10,230,918 | 59.8 |
Rhode Island |
522,812 | 857,347 | 61.0 |
South Carolina |
2,186,740 | 3,886,849 | 56.3 |
South Dakota |
440,299 | 656,781 | 67.0 |
Tennessee |
2,984,259 | 5,217,269 | 57.2 |
Texas |
12,671,801 | 20,861,611 | 60.7 |
Utah |
1,459,703 | 2,199,968 | 66.4 |
Vermont |
333,640 | 515,269 | 64.8 |
Virginia |
4,070,260 | 6,542,152 | 62.2 |
Washington |
3,445,880 | 5,722,480 | 60.2 |
West Virginia |
736,427 | 1,472,400 | 50.0 |
Wisconsin |
2,991,033 | 4,570,688 | 65.4 |
Wyoming |
286,373 | 451,285 | 63.5 |
The employment–population ratio for the entire United States was 59.7 percent in 2016. Overall, 24 states and the District of Columbia had employment–population ratios that were significantly above the nationwide ratio, while 16 states had ratios that were appreciably below it. In 2016, Alaska (61.7 percent) and New Mexico (53.7 percent) both recorded their lowest employment–population ratios since the series began in 1976.
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. The employment–population ratio is the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over who are employed. To learn more, see “Regional and State Unemployment — 2016 Annual Averages” (HTML) (PDF).
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, North Dakota had highest proportion of people employed in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/north-dakota-had-highest-proportion-of-people-employed-in-2016.htm (visited October 31, 2024).