Concerning Data Shows How Unhappy Iowans Are at Work

The lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still deeply felt on a day-to-day basis. For one, 366 ongoing labor strikes have put workers across various industries on uncertain ground. Couple that with mass layoffs, hiring freezes, and more, and workers are feeling the stress and struggles all across the board.

Concerning new data curated by Peak Sales Recruiting took an in-depth look at the Best States to Work in America. Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin are nowhere to be found in the top 10. In fact, none cracked the top 20.

Several metrics were analyzed in the curation of this comprehensive study, including: job and GDP growth, union representation, taxes, weekly hours worked, commute times, remote work, and wages.

Iowa Ranks #26 of 50 States in Terms of Happiness:

Peak Sales Recruiting found that Iowa is in the bottom half of states when it comes to employee happiness based on data:

A few key findings in Iowa show jobs grew by 0.7% annually, GDP grew by 5.2% annually, 8.7% of workers are in a union, and the average work week is 38.9 hours. In addition, state and local taxes total 6.93%, 11% of residents work from home, and the average commute time is 19.7 minutes. - Peak Sales Recruiting

What About Illinois and Wisconsin?:

Wisconsin doesn't trail Iowa too far, coming in at #28, while Illinois is concerningly close to the bottom 10 of the list, coming in at #38.

Other Key Findings:

Here is a broader overview of Peak Sales Recruiting's findings in their Best & Worst States to Work in America study:

• Oregon Is the Best State for Workers: Driven by its strong union representation (16.9%), short work week (an average of 37.8 hours) and solid growth rates for jobs (2.2%) and GDP (3.8%).
• Top States Are Spread Across the U.S.: No geographical region dominates the top 10 states for workers. Three are in the Northwest (Oregon, Washington and Montana), while three are on the East Coast (New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Delaware) and four are Midwestern (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota).
• Poorly Ranked States Still Shine in Some Categories: No. 40 Texas, for example, has a job growth rate of 3.2%, stronger than any state except No. 18 Nevada. And in No. 33 New York, 22.1% of workers are represented by a union, the second-highest rate after No. 20 Hawaii.
• Fastest Growing Jobs by 2032: Wind turbine technicians and nurse practitioners are tied for No. 1 with both projecting a 45% increase. Five of the top 10 are in healthcare.

The Worst State in Which to Work Is...:

Mississippi was pegged as the worst state when it comes to employee happiness, with second-lowest job growth rate and number of weekly work hours cited as the biggest deterrents:

While the best states for workers aren’t geographically concentrated, the worst states are located mainly in the South. Mississippi ranked last, followed by No. 50 Arkansas, No. 49 Alabama and No. 48 Louisiana. Mississippi has the U.S.’s second-lowest job growth rate, at 0.5% (after Rhode Island, which lost jobs at a rate of 0.7%), and people there work an average of 39.7 hours per week, on par with Arkansas and Louisiana for some of the longest weeks in the country. - per Peak Sales Recruiting

See the full results of Peak Sales Recruiting's study on their website.