Article
February 2017
Multiple jobholding in states in 2015
Multiple-jobholding rates by state continue to vary considerably from the 4.9-percent national average.
In 2015, the multiple-jobholding rate (the percentage of individuals who hold more than one job) in individual states varied considerably from the national average of 4.9 percent, a rate that has been unchanged since 2010.1 (See figure 1 and table 1.) In all, 20 states had multiple-jobholding rates significantly higher than the national average, 13 states had significantly lower rates, and 17 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not significantly different from the U.S. average.
Table 1. Multiple jobholders as a percentage of total employment, by state, annual averages, 2014 and 2015| U.S. census region and division | 2014 rate | 2015 |
|---|
| Rate | Error at 90-percent confidence | Significantly different than the U.S. rate |
|---|
United States | 4.9 | 4.9 | ±0.1 | — |
|---|
Northeast region | 5.0 | 5.0 | ±0.2 | — |
|---|
New England division | 6.2 | 6.0 | ±0.4 | higher |
|---|
Connecticut | 5.9 | 5.6 | ±0.8 | — |
|---|
Maine | 8.0 | 8.2 | ±1.1 | higher |
|---|
Massachusetts | 5.6 | 5.5 | ±0.6 | higher |
|---|
New Hampshire | 6.8 | 6.5 | ±0.7 | higher |
|---|
Rhode Island | 6.4 | 5.6 | ±0.8 | — |
|---|
Vermont | 8.5 | 7.2 | ±0.8 | higher |
|---|
Middle Atlantic division | 4.5 | 4.6 | ±0.3 | lower |
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New Jersey | 4.0 | 3.9 | ±0.5 | lower |
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New York | 4.0 | 4.1 | ±0.4 | lower |
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Pennsylvania | 5.6 | 6.0 | ±0.5 | higher |
|---|
South region | 4.2 | 4.2 | ±0.1 | lower |
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South Atlantic division | 4.2 | 4.3 | ±0.2 | lower |
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Delaware | 4.1 | 4.1 | ±0.7 | lower |
|---|
District of Columbia | 4.3 | 5.5 | ±0.7 | — |
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Florida | 3.3 | 3.5 | ±0.4 | lower |
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Georgia | 3.8 | 3.8 | ±0.5 | lower |
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Maryland | 5.6 | 5.3 | ±0.7 | — |
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North Carolina | 4.6 | 5.0 | ±0.6 | — |
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South Carolina | 3.7 | 3.7 | ±0.6 | lower |
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Virginia | 5.5 | 5.2 | ±0.6 | — |
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West Virginia | 4.8 | 4.8 | ±0.7 | — |
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East South Central division | 4.3 | 4.5 | ±0.3 | lower |
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Alabama | 3.9 | 4.3 | ±0.7 | — |
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Kentucky | 4.8 | 5.2 | ±0.8 | — |
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Mississippi | 4.2 | 4.3 | ±0.7 | — |
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Tennessee | 4.4 | 4.3 | ±0.6 | — |
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West South Central division | 4.0 | 3.9 | ±0.2 | lower |
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Arkansas | 3.6 | 3.9 | ±0.6 | lower |
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Louisiana | 4.3 | 4.4 | ±0.6 | — |
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Oklahoma | 4.5 | 4.2 | ±0.6 | lower |
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Texas | 3.9 | 3.7 | ±0.3 | lower |
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Midwest region | 6.1 | 6.2 | ±0.2 | higher |
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East North Central division | 5.6 | 5.8 | ±0.3 | higher |
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Illinois | 5.3 | 5.2 | ±0.5 | — |
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Indiana | 5.6 | 5.5 | ±0.7 | — |
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Michigan | 4.5 | 4.6 | ±0.5 | — |
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Ohio | 6.2 | 6.5 | ±0.6 | higher |
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Wisconsin | 6.7 | 7.6 | ±0.8 | higher |
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West North Central division | 7.2 | 7.2 | ±0.4 | higher |
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Iowa | 8.2 | 8.6 | ±0.9 | higher |
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Kansas | 6.6 | 6.2 | ±0.8 | higher |
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Minnesota | 7.7 | 7.7 | ±0.8 | higher |
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Missouri | 5.9 | 5.8 | ±0.7 | higher |
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Nebraska | 8.4 | 7.7 | ±0.9 | higher |
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North Dakota | 7.5 | 7.7 | ±0.8 | higher |
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South Dakota | 8.7 | 9.1 | ±1.3 | higher |
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West region | 4.8 | 4.6 | ±0.2 | lower |
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Mountain division | 5.4 | 5.0 | ±0.3 | — |
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Arizona | 4.2 | 4.0 | ±0.6 | lower |
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Colorado | 6.3 | 5.6 | ±0.7 | higher |
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Idaho | 6.9 | 5.5 | ±0.7 | — |
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Montana | 7.8 | 7.8 | ±0.8 | higher |
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Nevada | 4.1 | 3.8 | ±0.6 | lower |
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New Mexico | 4.9 | 3.9 | ±0.6 | lower |
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Utah | 5.7 | 6.5 | ±0.7 | higher |
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Wyoming | 6.3 | 6.0 | ±0.8 | higher |
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Pacific division | 4.5 | 4.4 | ±0.2 | lower |
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Alaska | 7.4 | 7.5 | ±1.0 | higher |
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California | 4.1 | 4.0 | ±0.3 | lower |
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Hawaii | 6.0 | 5.7 | ±0.7 | higher |
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Oregon | 5.7 | 5.4 | ±0.7 | — |
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Washington | 5.1 | 5.4 | ±0.6 | — |
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Multiple-jobholding rates tend to vary by region. As in past years, northern states generally had higher rates than southern states. All states in the West North Central Census division and all but two of the states in the New England division had multiple-jobholding rates significantly higher than the U.S. average. Of the 13 states with multiple-jobholding rates significantly below the national average, 7 were located in the South region.2
Most of the states with high multiple-jobholding rates in 2015 have had consistently high rates since estimates first became available in 1994. South Dakota recorded the highest multiple-jobholding rate of any state, 9.1 percent. Iowa and Maine followed, with rates of 8.6 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. Seven other states had multiple-jobholding rates above 7.0 percent.
Florida had the lowest multiple-jobholding rate of any state in 2015, 3.5 percent. Seven other states recorded rates below 4.0 percent.
Idaho and Vermont had the largest declines in their multiple-jobholding rates from 2014 to 2015 (–1.4 percentage points and –1.3 points, respectively). New Mexico had the only other statistically significant rate decline (–1.0 percentage point). The District of Columbia had the only significant multiple-jobholding rate increase over the year (+1.2 percentage points).
The U.S. multiple-jobholding rate has declined by 1.3 percentage points since peaking at 6.2 percent in 1995 and 1996. Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia had lower multiple-jobholding rates in 2015 than in 1996. The remaining three states had rates that were the same or only marginally higher over that 19-year span. The largest declines from 1996 to 2015 occurred in Idaho (–4.0 percentage points), Hawaii (–3.7 points), and Wyoming (–3.5 points).
Suggested citation:
Susan Campolongo, "Multiple jobholding in states in 2015,"
Monthly Labor Review,
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
February 2017, https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2017.6
Notes
1 Data for this report are derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a survey of about 60,000 households selected to represent the U.S. population age 16 years and older. The survey is conducted monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Multiple jobholders are those people who report, in the reference week of the survey, that they are wage or salary workers who hold two or more jobs, self-employed workers who also hold a wage or salary job, or unpaid family workers who also hold a wage or salary job.
2 The South region is composed of the East South Central, South Atlantic, and West South Central divisions.
United States Department of Labor
