Workers in South Dakota quit their jobs at 2.6 times the rate of workers in Massachusetts. That is the widest gap in the latest state-level quits data the federal government publishes, and it is the starting point for this analysis: a state-by-state look at where Americans walk out — and where they stay put — built by our team from public Bureau of Labor Statistics data, with every figure checked against the source tables twice.
Why is a craft workshop company reading federal labor turnover tables? Because retention is the quiet reason companies book us. Every quit in these tables is a team someone has to rebuild, and the states where quitting runs hottest are the states where managers are doing the most rebuilding. We publish the engagement research separately; this page is the geography.
One thing to know before the rankings: the government changed how this data comes out. State-level quits figures now arrive once a year instead of monthly, so the freshest state numbers anywhere are for December 2025, published by the BLS in July 2026. Nationally, quitting has since stayed flat at 2.0% through mid-2026 — so December's map is the current map, at the resolution anyone has.
Where America quits the most
Quits rate = people who quit during the month as a share of employment, seasonally adjusted, December 2025 — the latest state data published. U.S. rate: 2.0%.
- South Dakota — 3.4%, the national high
- Indiana — 3.2%, and rising fastest in the country year over year
- Alaska — 3.0%
- Montana — 2.9%
- Louisiana, North Dakota and Wyoming — 2.7%, tied fifth
Where America stays
- Massachusetts — 1.3%, the national low
- District of Columbia — 1.5%
- Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Washington — 1.6%, tied
- California — 1.7%
Read the two lists together and the pattern is hard to miss: quitting runs hottest in smaller, tighter labor markets across the Plains, Mountain West and industrial Midwest, and coolest in the big coastal knowledge-economy states. A single month overstates the extremes — on full-year 2025 averages the persistent gap between the highest states (Alaska and Indiana, 2.7%) and Massachusetts (1.4%) is about 1.9x — but the geography holds either way.
The 2025 story: quitting cooled almost everywhere, except the Midwest
Comparing full-year average quits rates for 2025 against 2024, from the same federal release: the national rate eased from 2.1% to 2.0%, and 32 of the 51 states-plus-DC fell, with 8 flat. The biggest coolers were Florida and West Virginia, each down 0.4 points, followed by a seven-state band down 0.3: Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
Moving against the national tide was a cluster you could drive across in a day: Indiana up 0.3 — the largest rise in the country — with Ohio, Michigan and South Dakota up 0.2. While quitting cooled on the coasts, the industrial Midwest got more restless.
The full table: quits rate by state
December 2025 rate (seasonally adjusted) with full-year averages for 2025 and 2024 (not seasonally adjusted) and the year-over-year change, all from the same BLS release. Ties share a rank.
| Rank | State | Dec 2025 rate | 2025 avg | 2024 avg | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | United States | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | −0.1 |
| 1 | South Dakota | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | +0.2 |
| 2 | Indiana | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.4 | +0.3 |
| 3 | Alaska | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.9 | −0.2 |
| 4 | Montana | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.8 | −0.2 |
| 5 | Louisiana | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.5 | −0.1 |
| 5 | North Dakota | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.3 | +0.1 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 8 | Delaware | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | −0.2 |
| 8 | Idaho | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 | −0.1 |
| 8 | Ohio | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.1 | +0.2 |
| 11 | Kansas | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.0 | +0.1 |
| 11 | Michigan | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.1 | +0.2 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Mississippi | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.5 | −0.2 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.6 | −0.3 |
| 14 | West Virginia | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | −0.4 |
| 17 | Iowa | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Missouri | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.2 | −0.2 |
| 18 | Nebraska | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.0 | +0.1 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | +0.1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Oregon | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.1 | −0.1 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.5 | −0.1 |
| 18 | Texas | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.3 | −0.1 |
| 18 | Vermont | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | −0.2 |
| 26 | Alabama | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.3 | −0.3 |
| 26 | Florida | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.6 | −0.4 |
| 26 | Illinois | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.9 | +0.1 |
| 26 | Kentucky | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.3 | −0.3 |
| 26 | Utah | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | −0.1 |
| 31 | Arkansas | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | −0.2 |
| 31 | Colorado | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.4 | −0.3 |
| 31 | Hawaii | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.0 | −0.1 |
| 31 | Maine | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | −0.1 |
| 31 | New Hampshire | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | −0.1 |
| 31 | New Mexico | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.2 | −0.3 |
| 31 | Virginia | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | −0.1 |
| 38 | Arizona | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| 38 | Maryland | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.0 | −0.2 |
| 38 | Minnesota | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| 41 | Nevada | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.3 | −0.3 |
| 41 | Pennsylvania | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.9 | −0.3 |
| 41 | Rhode Island | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.1 | −0.2 |
| 44 | California | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| 45 | Connecticut | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| 45 | Georgia | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | −0.2 |
| 45 | New Jersey | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | −0.1 |
| 45 | New York | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | +0.1 |
| 45 | Washington | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.8 | −0.2 |
| 50 | District of Columbia | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.6 | +0.2 |
| 51 | Massachusetts | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | −0.1 |
The states where we run workshops
Since these are the labor markets our client companies live in: New York quits at 1.6% — tied for the fifth-lowest value in the country, with only DC and Massachusetts lower — yet it was one of the few states whose annual average rose in 2025 while the nation cooled. California sits at 1.7% (44th), Hawaii exactly at the national 2.0% (tied 31st), and Texas at 2.2% (tied 18th) is the only one of our states quitting above the national rate. A South Dakotan is roughly twice as likely to quit in a given month as a New Yorker.
The honest footnote to all of it: low quits does not mean happy teams. A low-quit state can be a stuck state — people staying because the local market offers nowhere to go — which is why quits data pairs with engagement data rather than replacing it, and why the retention conversation always comes back to what teams actually experience at work. If you are computing your own company's number, our turnover rate guide walks through it.
Methodology
This is a KraftStories analysis of public U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data — specifically the State Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) annual release for 2025 (published July 22, 2026), which carries the latest state-level figures that exist: monthly rates through December 2025 (seasonally adjusted) and annual averages for 2024–2025 (not seasonally adjusted). BLS moved state JOLTS from monthly to annual publication with that release, so no state-level 2026 months exist anywhere. National context (quits steady at 2.0% through June 2026) is from the national JOLTS release of August 4, 2026. We re-checked 21 state figures against a second BLS page and all matched. Caveats that matter: state JOLTS estimates are model-based, and small states carry wide error bands — South Dakota printed 2.1% in October and November 2025 before December's 3.4%, which is why we quote the steadier annual averages alongside every single-month extreme; differences between states also reflect industry mix, not only workplace culture. All rates are quits as a percent of total nonfarm employment.
To cite this page: KraftStories (2026). Where America Quits: A State-by-State Analysis of BLS Quits Data. https://kraftstories.com/blogs/team-building/where-america-quits. Underlying data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS. If you use the rankings, please credit both.
Frequently asked questions
Which state has the highest quits rate?
South Dakota, at 3.4% in December 2025 (seasonally adjusted) — the latest state-level month the BLS publishes. On steadier full-year 2025 averages, Alaska and Indiana lead at 2.7%.
Which state has the lowest quits rate?
Massachusetts, at 1.3% in December 2025 and 1.4% for the full year — the national low on both measures.
Is quitting rising or falling in America?
Falling, gently: the national quits rate eased from 2.1% (2024 average) to 2.0% (2025 average) and has held at 2.0% through June 2026. Thirty-two of 51 jurisdictions cooled in 2025 — but Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and South Dakota rose against the trend.
Why is this data from December 2025?
Because it is the newest state-level data that exists: the BLS moved state JOLTS publication from monthly to annual in 2026, so December 2025 (published July 2026) is the latest month for any state. National figures still come out monthly.
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