Holiday Hustle Hotspots: The States Working the Most Over the Holidays

As the holidays ramp up, Americans don’t exactly slow down. Year-end travel remains brisk—with more than 119.3 million people expected to hit the road or skies—and consumers continue spending, pushing 2024 holiday retail sales close to $994 billion. 

Meanwhile, healthcare clinics brace for a spike in arrivals during the festive season, as many facilities see steady increases in patient volume during the festive season. For example, U.S. hospitals log over 18,000 emergency-room visits annually linked to Christmas decoration accidents alone. That surge creates real pressure behind the scenes, spanning stockrooms, checkout lines, airport terminals, and hospital floors alike.

To understand where that workload lands the heaviest, we analyzed our internal Homebase data across all 50 states and D.C. for the period from mid-November through the end of December 2024, examining total hours worked, overtime hours logged, and holiday staffing levels on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

We also incorporated data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find each state’s percentage of residents holding multiple jobs, average commute times, and share of adults aged 65 and older who are still working. Using these seven ranking factors, we created a composite “holiday hustle” score to identify the states where Americans are working the most during the holiday season.

Holiday work stats: Key findings

• The average U.S. hourly worker puts in 195 hours during the holiday season between mid-November and the end of December, and 32 hours of overtime — nearly a full extra week on the job. 
• On average, 14.7% of hourly workers clock in on Thanksgiving Day, and 9.2% work on Christmas Day. 
• Maryland is the #1 holiday hustle hotspot, ranking well above average across every factor in the study. The state’s workers average 209 total hours and 37 overtime hours during the holiday season, plus one of the oldest and longest-commuting workforces in the country.
• New Jersey workers log the most holiday hours in the nation: 234 total hours during the holiday season and 44 overtime hours, far above the national averages of 195 and 32, respectively.
• Hawaii leads the nation for holiday staffing, with 28.1% of hourly workers on the job on Thanksgiving Day and nearly 20% working on Christmas Day.

Where Americans are putting in the most holiday work hours

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Across the U.S., the average hourly worker puts in 195 total hours during the holiday season between mid-November and the end of December, and 32 hours of overtime. That’s nearly a full extra week on the clock during the busiest time of year. And for many workers, the holidays aren’t a break at all: 14.7% of hourly workers clock in on Thanksgiving Day, and 9.2% work on Christmas Day. 

For some, the extra hours mean welcome overtime pay. But for many, it’s a reminder that the holiday season is one of the hardest-working times of the year — a period when employees across industries like healthcare, retail, hospitality, transportation, and delivery often sacrifice time at home to meet the demands of essential work.

While those numbers paint a national picture of how hard Americans are working during the holidays, some states are logging even longer hours and heavier workloads than others. Here’s a look at where employees are putting in the most time this season.

The five states that work the most over the holidays are:

1. Maryland — Score: 80.5 (Out of 100)

According to internal Homebase data, hourly workers in Maryland are averaging 209 total hours worked during the holidays from mid-November through December — that’s 13.5 hours more than the national average of 195. And they’re not just sticking to regular shifts, either: Maryland workers are also logging 37 overtime hours during the holidays, five more than the average worker nationwide.

Maryland also has the third-highest share of working adults aged 65 and older (31.2%), and the second-longest average commute time in the study at 33 minutes each way. Safe to say, Maryland workers are putting in serious hours during the holiday season.

2. New York — Score: 80.0

Hourly workers in the Empire State average 221 total hours during the holidays. That’s the fourth-highest in the country and a full 26 hours more than the national average. They’re also putting in plenty of extra time, with 38 overtime hours on average, the third-highest in the study, and six hours higher than the national norm.

And the grind doesn’t stop there: 13.4% of New York hourly workers clock in on Christmas Day, compared to just 9.2% nationwide. Add in the longest one-way commute in the study, 33.5 minutes, and it’s clear that New York’s workforce is putting in the time, the miles, and the effort to keep the city that never sleeps running through the season.

3. New Jersey — Score: 78.0

Hourly workers in New Jersey log an average of 234 total hours from mid-November through December, the highest in the study and a full 38 hours more than the national average. They’re also working the most overtime of any state, clocking 44 extra hours compared to the national average of 32.

New Jersey’s workforce is also among the most experienced, with the highest percentage of working adults aged 65 and older (33.8%) in the country. NJ workers also average one-way commutes of 32 minutes, the third-longest in the study. 

4. Hawaii — Score: 75.3

Hawaii has the highest share of employees working on major holidays in the country. 28.1% of Hawaii’s hourly workers clock in on Thanksgiving Day (nearly double the national average of 14.7%), and almost 20% work on Christmas Day (compared to just 9.2% nationwide). 

On top of that, 7.6% of Hawaii’s workforce holds multiple jobs, well above the national rate of 5.2%, showing just how hard employees are working to keep paradise running through one of the busiest seasons of the year.

5. California — Score: 69.6

The holidays are anything but slow in California. Homebase data shows the state’s hourly workers put in an average of 216 total hours from mid-November through December, 21 hours more than the national average. California also ranks third nationwide for the share of hourly employees working on Thanksgiving Day at 25.3%, plus the average commute time for employees is nearly 30 minutes each way (29.8 minutes). 

Honorable mentions:

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the holiday workload. Texas takes sixth place on our list of holiday hustle hotspots. Hourly workers here put in an average of 224 total hours of work during the holiday season, the third most in the country, and 29 hours more than the national average. They also clock 39 overtime hours during the holidays, the second-highest total nationwide, and 12.5% of hourly employees work on Christmas Day, ranking fifth overall in that category.

Alaska may be known for its long winters, but that doesn’t slow its workers down during the holiday season. The state ranks seventh overall in our holiday hustle list, with hourly employees averaging 216 total hours from mid-November through December 21, more hours than the national average of 195. Alaskans are also among the most likely to clock in on Thanksgiving Day, with 24.1% of hourly workers on the job compared to just 14.7% nationwide.

Holiday hustle hotspots by category

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The holiday hustle takes many forms: longer hours, extra shifts, multiple jobs, and long commutes. To see where workers are feeling it the most, we broke down the states leading each category, along with a few regional trends that stand out. 

Here is the state with the highest score in each category:

• Total holiday season hours worked per employee: New Jersey — 233.9 hours
  
  • National Average: 195.5 hours

• Total holiday season overtime hours worked per employee: New Jersey — 44.0 hours
  
  • National Average: 32.5 hours

• Percent of hourly employees working on Thanksgiving Day: Hawaii — 28.1%
  
  • National Average: 14.7%

• Percent of hourly employees working on Christmas Day: Hawaii — 19.5%
  
  • National Average: 9.2%

• Percent of employees holding multiple jobs: Montana — 8.0%
  
  • National Average: 5.2%

• Percent of working adults who are 65+: New Jersey — 33.8%
  
  • National Average: 22.0%

• Average one-way commute time: New York —33.5 minutes
  
  • National Average: 27.2 minutes

Regional trends:

The Midwest takes the spotlight for employees working multiple gigs. States like Nebraska (8.3%), Wisconsin (7.9%), and Minnesota (7.8%) all rank near the top for employees holding more than one job, well above the national average of 5.2%. This trend likely reflects the region’s strong work ethic and the mix of seasonal, service, and agricultural roles that keep many Midwesterners balancing more than one paycheck at a time.

Meanwhile, the Northeast stands out for its larger share of workers continuing to work into older age and long commutes. States like New Jersey (33.8%), New Hampshire (30.9%), and Connecticut (30.3%) have some of the highest percentages of working adults aged 65 and older, and the longest average commute times, with New York, Maryland, and New Jersey all topping 30 minutes each way. High population density, competitive job markets, and a concentration of professional and government roles likely contribute to both trends. 

Closing thoughts

The holidays bring cheer, but for millions of workers, they also bring longer hours, fuller schedules, and less time to slow down. From Maryland to Hawaii, the data shows just how much elbow grease it takes to keep stores open, deliveries moving, and essential services running through the season. 

At Homebase, we’re proud to support the teams behind it all, helping small businesses manage schedules, track hours, and give hardworking employees the tools they need to thrive, even during the busiest time of year.

About Homebase

Homebase is the everything app for hourly teams, with employee scheduling, time clocks, payroll, hiring, communication, HR, and more. More than 150,000+ small (but mighty) businesses rely on Homebase to make work radically easy and give their teams superpowers. As the leader in small business team management, Homebase tracked 1+ billion hours for 3.5+ million workers last year. Homebase was named a 2024 Fast Company’s Brands That Matter, a 2025 Webby Award winner, and a 2025 Fast Company’s Most Innovative Workplaces North America winner. 

Methodology 

To identify where Americans are working the most during the holiday season, all 50 states and the District of Columbia were evaluated on seven ranking factors related to work hours, overtime hours, holiday staffing, holding multiple jobs, and other workforce strain indicators. For this study, the holiday season was defined as the period from the week of November 11, 2024, through the week of December 30, 2024. 

Each factor was weighted according to its influence on the overall workload during the holidays. Using these weights, the individual factors were scored on a scale of 0 to 5 and then combined to produce a composite score from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing states where residents work the most. The specific ranking factors, along with their respective weights and data sources, are detailed below.

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Fair Use

You are welcome to use, reference, and share non-commercial excerpts of this study with proper attribution. If you cite or cover our findings, please link back to this page so readers can view the full methodology, charts, and context.