The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks how many hours per week the average American works and releases that information as part of the monthly Employment Situation Summary. As of 2021, Americans worked an average of 38.7 hours per week.
What Are The Average Hours Worked in the US?
The average work hours per week for U.S. workers are shown below, along with a further breakdown by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and marital status. The data is based on the 2021 Current Population Survey courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Average Hours per Week Worked (US)
AgeAge 16 years and older: 38.7Age 16-19: 25.0Age 20-24: 34.8Age 25-54: 40.255 and Over: 38.0 GenderMen worked an average of 40.5 hours per week in paid employment. Women worked an average of 36.6 hours per week. Marital StatusMarried men worked nearly 4.0 hours more per week than men who had never married. Married women worked 1.7 hours more than women who had never married. Race White American: 38.7 hours per weekAfrican American: 38.8 hours per weekAsian American: 38.6 hours per week EthnicityHispanic and Latino: 38.1 hours per week
Average Hours per Day Worked (US)
The average work hours per day for U.S. workers vary based on factors like weekend vs. weekday work, working from home vs. working in an office, and self-employed vs. salaried employee status. Factors like gender and education also influence the numbers. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 24% of workers worked from home. However, in 2021, 38% of workers did some work from home while 68% worked in the workplace either partly or entirely. Below are the average work hours per day according to 2021 figures from the BLS:
Average work hours per day in the workplace: 7.8 hoursAverage work hours per day working from home: 5.6 hours
Hours per Week Worked in Other Countries
TechRepublic reports that the Netherlands has the shortest average workweek of 29 hours, followed by Denmark at 32 hours per week. Countries with the highest average amount of hours worked included:
Colombia – 48 hoursTurkey – 48 hoursMexico – 45 hoursSouth Africa – 43 hours
Hours Worked by Gender
On days worked, employed men worked an average of 43 minutes more than employed women—this difference may be on account of women’s higher instances of part-time work (there were almost twice as many part-time female employees as there were part-time male employees). However, for full-time workers, men worked longer than women, working 8.4 hours compared to 7.8 hours for women. Notably, women spent more time with household responsibilities: On an average day, 86% of women and 71% of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or household management. On the days they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.7 hours on these activities, while men spent 2.2 hours.
Hours Worked per Week by Type of Employment
People holding multiple jobs were more likely to work on an average weekday than single-job holders (88.5% vs. 82.1%).
Hours Worked per Week by Education
Those with advanced degrees (bachelor’s degrees and higher) are more likely to work from home: 67% of employed people over 25 years old with an advanced degree did some work from home. Only 19% of workers with a high school diploma and no college did some work from home.Workers with advanced degrees are more likely to work on an average day (74%) than those with a high school diploma (64%).Those with an advanced degree worked an average of 7.83 hours per day (including weekends), while those with only a high school diploma worked the most on an average day: 8.08 hours.
Hours Worked per Weekend
Many more full-time employed persons worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 88.3% worked on an average weekday, compared with 31.6% on an average weekend day.Employed people worked an average of 5.64 hours on a weekend day.Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an average weekend day—51%, compared with 30.8% for those holding down only one job.
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