Fewer and fewer people have more than one job

Andrey Kamenov, Ph.D. Probability and Statistics

One in every 20 Americans (among those in the labor force) has more than one job. But that number alone doesn’t tell us the whole story.

The fact is, this number is decreasing: While the exact percentage was 5.6 percent in 2000, it’s now down to 4.7 percent. The decline primarily took place before 2010, and the numbers haven’t changed much since then.

Men and women working more than one job (percent of total labor force)

Another interesting fact that immediately becomes obvious from looking at the chart is that there’s a growing gap between genders. While in 2000 the difference was statistically negligible, it has been growing since then. By 2014, only 4.4 percent of all men in the labor force had more than one job, while this number was as high as 5.1 percent for women.

According to this report, the decrease has mainly affected workers with both full-time and part-time jobs. The number of people with two part-time jobs, on the other hand, has remained relatively stable (and even has shown small signs of growth).

Even more significant is the difference between states. People holding multiple jobs in Florida constitute only 3.2 percent of the total workforce, while they make up more than 7 percent in several Midwestern states.

People working more than one job by state of residence

The other two states with unusually high rates are Vermont and Maine. On the other hand, the numbers are generally about two times smaller in the South (around 4 percent).

Lastly, how common are people working more than two jobs? Not very: around one in 300 Americans has three jobs, and one in 2000 has four. The latter is a rough estimate, of course — there are not that many people with more than three jobs in the sample.

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About Andrey Kamenov

Andrey Kamenov, Ph.D. Probability and Statistics

Andrey Kamenov is a data scientist working for Advameg Inc. His background includes teaching statistics, stochastic processes and financial mathematics in Moscow State University and working for a hedge fund. His academic interests range from statistical data analysis to optimal stopping theory. Andrey also enjoys his hobbies of photography, reading and powerlifting.

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2 thoughts on “Fewer and fewer people have more than one job”

  1. This article is complete bullcrap. I’ve lived in California and other states in which EVERYONE i knew had 2-3 jobs just to survive.

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