”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.
Buzz: California is the second-best place to be a worker in the U.S., according to a Labor Day scorecard created by a pro-labor group.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at the annual Best States to Work Index from Oxfam, which weighs 27 workplace policy issues to measure the strength of worker rights in each state.
Topline
The only place better than California to be a worker, by this math, was Washington, D.C. After California came Oregon, New York and West Virginia. The worst places were North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and South Dakota.
And California’s economic arch rivals? Texas ranked No. 46 while Florida was No. 29.
Details
Let’s peek inside the three slices of workplace conditions that make up this grading system …
Wage policies: Minimum hourly pay is key to this scoring. California ranked No. 3. Tops? No. 1 is DC, then West Virginia. After California comes New Jersey, and New York. Worst? Indiana, then North Carolina, South Dakota, Georgia and Alabama. Texas was No. 45 and Florida No. 26.
Worker protection: This year, warehouse regulation was added to the calculations. California ranked No. 2. Tops? Oregon. After California comes New York, West Virginia, and DC. Worst? Mississippi, North Carolina, and Alabama. Texas? No. 45. Florida? No. 30.
Right to organize: How easy is it to unionize? California ranked No. 1 then came DC, New York, Oregon, Delaware and Illinois, Ohio. Worst? Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas. Florida was No. 27.
Bottom line
Is there a price to pay for pro-labor regulation? Let’s ponder three job-related variables and then compare them to the rankings.
Where’s the best pay?
California ranked No. 4 with annualized wages of $80,900 in 2024’s first half. Tops was DC at $105,900, then Massachusetts at $85,400 and Washington at $85,000. Mississippi had the smallest paychecks at $54,400, then New Mexico at $58,100 and West Virginia at $58,900. Texas? No. 23 at $68,000 and Florida No. 26 at $66,700.
Where is organized labor stronger?
California has the fifth-highest union representation at 16.9% of all jobs. Tops? Hawaii at 25.6%, New York at 21.5%, West Virginia at 18.1%, and New Jersey at 17.3%. Lowest? South Carolina at 3%, North Carolina at 3.3%, and South Dakota at 4.2%. Texas? No. 45 at 5.4% and Florida No. 41 at 6.1%.
Finally, who’s hiring?
California ranked No. 25 with five-year job growth of 3.7%. That’s nowhere near No. 1 Idaho at 14.6%, then Utah at 13.1% and Nevada at 11.6%. Texas? No. 6 at 10.9% and Florida No. 5 at 11.2%. Worst job markets? Hawaii was down 3.4% in 2019-24, then DC, down 3.3%, and Louisiana, down 1.8%.
So, if you look at Oxfam’s top 10 states to work, they average $78,400 in annualized wages. Pay in the bottom 10 averages $64,200 – or 18% less. Plus, the top 10 is 15% unionized, vs. 8% for the bottom 10.
Yet ponder that the top 10 average job growth was just 1.7% since 2019. The bottom 10? Jobs were up 6.2% – nearly quadruple the pace.
If you’re looking for work, note that bosses seems to be avoiding the high-cost, pro-worker states.
Post script
California ranked No. 5 in a “best place to work” ranking by StartFleet behind New York, Washington, Hawaii and Oregon. Worst? Arkansas, Wyoming, and Louisiana. Texas? No. 43. Florida? No. 28.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
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