States with the Lowest Quits Rate
All states ranked by lowest voluntary quits rate — where workers are least likely to leave their jobs.
What This Ranking Tells Us
Low quits rates can signal either worker satisfaction and stability, or limited alternatives that discourage job switching. States at the bottom of the quits ranking often have concentrated industry bases, higher unemployment, or older workforces less inclined to change employers. For employers, low quits mean lower turnover costs but may also indicate wage stagnation reducing competitive pressure.
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.
Database not yet loaded
Rankings will appear once the database is connected.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a low quits rate good or bad?
It depends on context. In a healthy economy, low quits can mean workers are satisfied and well-compensated. But if paired with low openings and high unemployment, it suggests workers feel trapped — they want to leave but can't find alternatives. The interpretation requires looking at multiple JOLTS metrics together.
What does a low quits rate mean for employers?
Lower turnover reduces recruiting and training costs. However, it can also mean less fresh talent entering the organization and potentially stagnant wages if competitive pressure to retain workers is low. Some employers in low-quits states may face complacency risks.
Explore More Rankings
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.