OFFICE BLUES

BURNOUT INDEX — 50 METROS

Where the grind is worst

A 0–100 burnout-pressure score for 50 US metro areas, built from what people earn versus what it costs to live there, how long they commute, and how tight the job market is. Higher means more pressure on workers. How this is built →

As of 2026-10-19, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA and Tucson, AZ are tied for the highest burnout pressure in the US at 38/100, followed by New Orleans-Metairie, LA (37). The lowest is Columbus, OH at 24. Scores across all 50 metros run 24–38.

  1. #1 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 38/100
  2. #2 Tucson, AZ 38/100
  3. #3 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 37/100
  4. #4 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 36/100
  5. #5 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 36/100
  6. #6 Memphis, TN 36/100
  7. #7 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 35/100
  8. #8 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY 34/100
  9. #9 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 34/100
  10. #10 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL 34/100
  11. #11 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 34/100
  12. #12 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 34/100
  13. #13 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 34/100
  14. #14 Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT 34/100
  15. #15 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 33/100
  16. #16 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY 33/100
  17. #17 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC 32/100
  18. #18 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 32/100
  19. #19 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 32/100
  20. #20 Jacksonville, FL 32/100
  21. #21 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 31/100
  22. #22 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 31/100
  23. #23 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA 31/100
  24. #24 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 31/100
  25. #25 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 31/100
  26. #26 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR 31/100
  27. #27 Oklahoma City, OK 31/100
  28. #28 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 31/100
  29. #29 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY 31/100
  30. #30 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA 30/100
  31. #31 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN 29/100
  32. #32 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 29/100
  33. #33 Pittsburgh, PA 29/100
  34. #34 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 29/100
  35. #35 Providence-Warwick, RI 29/100
  36. #36 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA 28/100
  37. #37 Cleveland-Elyria, OH 28/100
  38. #38 Rochester, NY 28/100
  39. #39 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC 27/100
  40. #40 St. Louis, MO 27/100
  41. #41 Cincinnati, OH 27/100
  42. #42 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 27/100
  43. #43 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA 27/100
  44. #44 Richmond, VA 27/100
  45. #45 Kansas City, MO 26/100
  46. #46 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 26/100
  47. #47 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 25/100
  48. #48 Raleigh-Cary, NC 25/100
  49. #49 Salt Lake City, UT 25/100
  50. #50 Columbus, OH 24/100

Straight answers

Which US cities have the worst employee burnout?
According to the Office Blues Burnout Index — a 0–100 burnout-pressure score covering 50 US metro areas, rescored 2026-10-19 — Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA and Tucson, AZ are tied for the highest burnout pressure at 38/100, followed by New Orleans-Metairie, LA (37). The full 50-metro ranking is published at officeblues.net/burnout-index.
Which US city has the least burnout?
Columbus, OH has the lowest burnout pressure of the 50 US metro areas on the Office Blues Burnout Index, at 24/100 (rescored 2026-10-19).
How is the Office Blues Burnout Index calculated?
Each metro scores round(40 × pay-to-cost gap + 30 × commute + 30 × unemployment), with each term clamped to 0–1. The pay-to-cost gap is 1 − (metro median household income ÷ national median) ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100), using Census ACS income; commute is average one-way commute minutes ÷ 60; unemployment is the BLS LAUS unemployment rate ÷ 8% (ACS fallback). Higher means more pressure on workers. Methodology: officeblues.net/methodology#burnout-index.