States with the Highest Quits Rate
All states ranked by voluntary quits rate — where workers are most confident about finding better opportunities.
What This Ranking Tells Us
The quits rate is widely considered the single best indicator of worker confidence in the labor market. When workers voluntarily leave their jobs at high rates, it signals abundant alternative opportunities and confidence in finding better positions. States topping this ranking typically have tight labor markets, diverse industry bases offering mobility, and competitive wage growth. Economists view rising quits rates as a leading indicator of wage growth, since workers generally quit for higher-paying positions.
This ranking is computed from the latest available month of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), state-level series, harmonized against the BLS state employment denominator so the figures stand on the same statistical footing across all 51 jurisdictions. Rates are seasonally adjusted where BLS publishes adjusted series and reported as raw values where they are not, with no proprietary smoothing or extrapolation applied on top of the official numbers.
Methodology: rows are sorted by the metric named in the column header, ties broken by the most recent month value, then by alphabetical state name. Differences smaller than the JOLTS published relative standard error band of roughly ±0.3 percentage points at the state level should be treated as statistically indistinguishable; the ordering is informative for clusters of states, not for one-place gaps. See our methodology page for the full pipeline, and consult the BLS JOLTS state data issues notice for upstream caveats.
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the quits rate important?
Federal Reserve economists consider the quits rate the single best indicator of labor market health. High voluntary quit rates mean workers feel confident enough to leave their current positions, typically for better pay or conditions. The national quits rate peaked at 3.0% during the "Great Resignation" of 2021-2022 before normalizing.
Do high quits rates mean people are unhappy with their jobs?
Not necessarily. While some quits reflect dissatisfaction, the majority of voluntary separations are driven by better opportunities elsewhere. A high quits rate is generally a positive signal — it means workers have options and the labor market is healthy enough to support job switching.
Which industries have the highest quits rates?
Accommodation and food services, retail trade, and leisure/hospitality consistently have the highest quits rates nationally. These industries feature lower wages, variable schedules, and abundant alternatives — giving workers both motivation and ability to switch jobs frequently.
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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.