The States and Industries Working The Most in the Summer

As summer ramps up, Americans don’t exactly slow down. More than 72 million people were expected to travel domestically during the 2025 Independence Day holiday period alone, while back-to-school spending was projected to reach $128 billion. That kind of seasonal activity creates real pressure behind the scenes, especially for the hourly teams keeping local businesses moving.

Restaurants staff up for patio season. Retailers prepare for summer sales and back-to-school shoppers. Transportation teams handle more movement across roads, airports, and delivery routes. Home and repair businesses juggle projects, maintenance calls, and seasonal demand. While many workers are taking time off, plenty of others are clocking longer hours to keep those businesses running.

To understand where that summer workload lands hardest, we analyzed internal Homebase data across all 50 states, looking at average hours worked, overtime, the share of employees working overtime, changes in hours and jobs from spring to summer, and staffing levels on major summer holidays.

We also incorporated data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to account for broader workforce conditions, including unemployment and employment changes. Using these factors, we created a composite summer work index to identify the states working the most during the summer, then took a closer look at peak summer work periods and the industries carrying the heaviest seasonal workloads.

Summer work trends: Key findings

• Alaska ranks as the state working the most during the summer. Workers there averaged the most weekly hours worked in the study, while 40% worked overtime.
• Maine ranks No. 2 overall and posted the largest spring-to-summer increase in hours worked, with hours rising 32%. 
• New York ranks No. 3, driven by long summer workweeks, high overtime, and a 22% increase in jobs from spring to summer. 
• Transportation workers logged the longest summer workweeks across industries, averaging 34.2 hours per week. The industry also led in overtime, with 56% of hourly employees working overtime.
• Entertainment saw the largest spring-to-summer increase in hours worked, up 28%, while education posted the largest increase in jobs, up 50%. 

Which states work most during the summer?

Summer may bring vacations for some workers, but for many small businesses, it brings longer shifts, tighter schedules, and more employees clocking overtime. Restaurants, retailers, repair shops, entertainment venues, and other service-based businesses often feel that pressure first, especially in states where tourism, seasonal demand, or local economic activity ramps up during warmer months.

The states at the top of the ranking didn’t get there for one reason alone. Some had longer average workweeks. Others saw hours or jobs climb sharply from spring to summer. Many also had a higher share of employees working overtime, showing how summer demand can stretch teams beyond their regular schedules.

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Alaska — Score: 70.2 (Out of 100)

Alaska ranked No. 1 overall, driven by the highest average weekly hours worked in the study at 28.7 hours. It also had the largest share of employees working overtime, at 40%, compared with the study average of 30%. Alaska’s summer economy often leans on seasonal activity, from tourism to outdoor services, and the data reflects that short, busy window. Employees also worked an average of 2.0 overtime hours per week, while hours worked rose 19% from spring to summer.

‍Maine — Score: 62.4 

Maine ranked second, largely because weekly hours worked rose 32% from spring to summer, the largest increase of any state in the study. That jump makes sense for a state where coastal tourism, restaurants, lodging, and local service businesses tend to pick up once summer arrives. Maine employees worked an average of 25.4 hours per week during the summer, slightly above the study average of 25.1, and 31% of employees worked overtime.

‍New York — Score: 60.1

New York ranked third, with employees working an average of 27.3 hours per week and 2.3 overtime hours during the summer. That overtime figure was the second-highest in the study, behind only New Jersey. New York also saw jobs increase 22% from spring to summer, suggesting that businesses added staff while still asking existing teams to put in longer hours. For small businesses in food service, retail, tourism, and hospitality, that mix points to strong demand and continued staffing pressure.

‍Wyoming — Score: 58.9

Wyoming landed at No. 4 after posting a 21% increase in hours worked and a 28% increase in jobs from spring to summer. Both figures were well above the study averages of 9.6% and 9.4%, respectively. That means businesses were likely expanding headcount while also adding hours to existing schedules. In a state with seasonal recreation and travel demand, summer can quickly turn into a staffing test for small businesses.

‍Texas — Score: 58.1

Texas rounded out the top five, with employees working an average of 28.4 hours per week, tied with Florida for the second-highest mark in the study. Texas also had the third-highest average weekly overtime at 2.2 hours and the third-highest share of employees working overtime at 37%. Even though hours and jobs didn’t rise as sharply from spring to summer as they did in some other states, Texas’ high baseline workload pushed it near the top. For a state with a large service economy, those longer schedules can add up quickly for small business teams.

We also looked at a few peak summer moments to see how they affected hours worked. These periods can give small businesses a better sense of when schedules may need more coverage, especially for teams using employee scheduling software or time tracking tools to manage changing demand.

‍Prime Days had a small overall lift. Hours worked rose 0.5% on average during Prime Days, with the largest increases in Wyoming (+8%), Vermont (+5%), and New York (+4%). The modest overall change suggests the event may affect certain local businesses and retail-adjacent teams more than the broader small business economy.

‍Back-to-school had a clearer impact. Hours worked rose 3.0% on average during the back-to-school period, with the largest increases in Iowa (+10%), South Dakota (+7%), and Massachusetts (+6%). That lift may reflect demand across retail, child care, education support, food service, and other businesses tied to family routines restarting before fall.

Summer work varies widely across the country. In some places, employees work longer weeks; in others, businesses add jobs or see hours climb quickly once seasonal demand hits. Next, we’ll look at which industries carry the heaviest summer workloads and where overtime and staffing pressure show up most clearly.

Which industries work most during the summer?

A busy summer can look very different depending on the business. For some teams, it means more deliveries, repairs, and appointments packed into each week, making it important to plan ahead and staff properly for a longer busy season. Others may see sharper spikes tied to events, travel, school calendars, or customer demand — the kind of rush that requires flexible schedules and enough coverage to adjust quickly.

Our analysis found which types of businesses saw longer workweeks, more overtime, and bigger staffing shifts as demand changed from spring to summer.

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‍Transportation had the longest summer work weeks. Transportation employees worked an average of 34.2 hours per week during the summer, the highest of any industry we analyzed. The industry also led in average weekly overtime, at 3.7 hours, and had the largest share of employees working overtime, at 56%. That makes sense for an industry tied closely to movement, delivery, travel, and logistics. All areas that can feel the strain when summer activity picks up.

‍Personal services also saw heavy summer workloads. Personal services ranked second for average weekly hours worked, at 33.0 hours, and second for the share of employees working overtime, at 54%. It also ranked third for average weekly overtime, at 2.9 hours. For businesses like salons, spas, fitness studios, and other appointment-based services, summer can bring packed calendars and tighter coverage needs, especially when employees also request vacation time.

‍Home and repair businesses carried longer hours and more overtime. Home and repair ranked third for average weekly hours worked, at 32.3 hours, and second for average weekly overtime, at 3.3 hours. It also ranked third for the share of employees working overtime, at 51%. Summer often brings more home projects, maintenance needs, and weather-related repairs, which can put extra pressure on small teams during an already busy season.

‍Entertainment and hospitality saw the biggest jump in hours from spring to summer. Entertainment led all industries with a 28% increase in hours worked, followed by hospitality at 18%. Those jumps reflect the seasonal nature of summer demand, when travel, events, dining, and leisure activity tend to bring more customers through the door. For small businesses, that kind of surge can be good for revenue, but it also makes accurate scheduling and time tracking more important.

Education and caregiving had the largest increase in jobs. Education jobs rose 50% from spring to summer, the highest increase of any industry in the study. Public or nonprofit organizations followed at 26%, while professional services rose 18%. That growth suggests some industries met summer demand by adding staff rather than only extending hours. For employers, that can mean more onboarding, more schedule coordination, and more payroll changes to manage in a short window.

Across industries, the data shows two different versions of summer work. Transportation, personal services, and home and repair leaned heavily on longer hours and overtime, while industries like education, public or nonprofit, and professional services saw stronger job growth from spring to summer. Either way, summer puts real pressure on small businesses to match staffing levels with demand — without overloading the people already on the schedule.

Closing thoughts

Summer isn’t vacation season for everyone. Across the country, hourly workers are logging longer weeks, picking up overtime, and covering busy stretches tied to travel, holidays, school calendars, and seasonal demand.

We found out where that summer workload lands hardest, from states like Alaska, Maine, and New York to industries like transportation, personal services, and home and repair. The data also highlights a larger reality for small businesses: summer demand can build gradually, spike quickly, or do both at once.

For local businesses, staying ready means having the right people in the right place at the right time. Homebase helps small business teams manage that work in one app, from scheduling and time tracking to payroll, so they can keep up when the season gets busy.

About Homebase

Homebase is the everything app for hourly teams, helping more than 150,000 small businesses manage employee scheduling, time clocks, payroll, hiring, communication, HR, and more. Built for local businesses and the people who keep them running, Homebase makes it easier for owners to plan ahead, stay staffed, and support their teams through busy seasons.

As part of its mission to make local business teams unstoppable, Homebase uses its workforce data to better understand the trends shaping small businesses, hourly workers, and the economy. Homebase tracked more than 1 billion hours for 3.5 million workers last year, offering a unique view into how local teams work across North America.

Methodology 

To identify where Americans are working the most during the summer months, we evaluated all 50 states on 10 ranking factors related to work hours, overtime hours, job changes, employment change, and other workforce strain indicators. For this study, the summer months were defined as June, July, and August, while the spring months were March, April, and May.

Each factor was weighted according to its influence on the overall workload during the summertime. Using these weights, the individual factors were given scores from 0 to 5 and summed to reach a total score of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the states that work the most (i.e., higher scores = working more). The specific ranking factors, along with their respective weights and data sources, are detailed below.

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To find out how peak summer moments can affect hours, we compared the number of hours worked during select summer periods with the weeks that came before them. For Prime Days, we calculated the percent change in hours worked from June 24-27, 2025, to July 8-11, 2025. For back-to-school, we calculated the percent change in hours worked from June 24-July 15, 2025, to July 22-Aug. 12, 2025.

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.