Data / Rankings / Leisure and hospitality payroll employment / US states

US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, August 2026

California had the highest leisure and hospitality payroll employment of 51 states in August 2026, at 2,061,300 jobs. Vermont had the lowest, at 35,600 jobs. The median was 224,000 jobs and the figure for the United States was 16,959,000 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest2,061,300California
Lowest35,600Vermont
Median224,00051 states
United States16,959,000History

Map of states, August 2026

Alabama: 224,000 jobsAlaska: 38,400 jobsArizona: 359,900 jobsArkansas: 136,200 jobsCalifornia: 2,061,300 jobsColorado: 358,800 jobsConnecticut: 154,200 jobsDelaware: 51,500 jobsDistrict of Columbia: 76,000 jobsFlorida: 1,341,700 jobsGeorgia: 516,700 jobsHawaii: 121,600 jobsIdaho: 94,600 jobsIllinois: 606,900 jobsIndiana: 300,200 jobsIowa: 142,000 jobsKansas: 136,900 jobsKentucky: 208,500 jobsLouisiana: 225,900 jobsMaine: 70,700 jobsMaryland: 277,000 jobsMassachusetts: 362,000 jobsMichigan: 432,200 jobsMinnesota: 276,700 jobsMississippi: 137,400 jobsMissouri: 318,500 jobsMontana: 71,700 jobsNebraska: 104,700 jobsNevada: 360,900 jobsNew Hampshire: 78,400 jobsNew Jersey: 402,200 jobsNew Mexico: 99,500 jobsNew York: 920,300 jobsNorth Carolina: 558,100 jobsNorth Dakota: 42,000 jobsOhio: 568,200 jobsOklahoma: 182,100 jobsOregon: 203,400 jobsPennsylvania: 584,900 jobsRhode Island: 59,500 jobsSouth Carolina: 291,300 jobsSouth Dakota: 54,500 jobsTennessee: 373,900 jobsTexas: 1,561,100 jobsUtah: 178,800 jobsVermont: 35,600 jobsVirginia: 424,200 jobsWashington: 348,200 jobsWest Virginia: 72,000 jobsWisconsin: 296,600 jobsWyoming: 39,900 jobs
  • Under 70K
  • 70K to 140K
  • 140K to 220K
  • 220K to 350K
  • 350K to 490K
  • 490K and over
jobs, August 2026. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, August 2026

California: 2,061,300 jobsCalifornia2,061,300Texas: 1,561,100 jobsTexas1,561,100Florida: 1,341,700 jobsFlorida1,341,700New York: 920,300 jobsNew York920,300Illinois: 606,900 jobsIllinois606,900Pennsylvania: 584,900 jobsPennsylvania584,900Ohio: 568,200 jobsOhio568,200North Carolina: 558,100 jobsNorth Carolina558,100Georgia: 516,700 jobsGeorgia516,700Michigan: 432,200 jobsMichigan432,200Virginia: 424,200 jobsVirginia424,200New Jersey: 402,200 jobsNew Jersey402,200Tennessee: 373,900 jobsTennessee373,900Massachusetts: 362,000 jobsMassachusetts362,000Nevada: 360,900 jobsNevada360,900Arizona: 359,900 jobsArizona359,900Colorado: 358,800 jobsColorado358,800Washington: 348,200 jobsWashington348,200Missouri: 318,500 jobsMissouri318,500Indiana: 300,200 jobsIndiana300,200Wisconsin: 296,600 jobsWisconsin296,600South Carolina: 291,300 jobsSouth Carolina291,300Maryland: 277,000 jobsMaryland277,000Minnesota: 276,700 jobsMinnesota276,700Louisiana: 225,900 jobsLouisiana225,900Alabama: 224,000 jobsAlabama224,000Kentucky: 208,500 jobsKentucky208,500Oregon: 203,400 jobsOregon203,400Oklahoma: 182,100 jobsOklahoma182,100Utah: 178,800 jobsUtah178,800Connecticut: 154,200 jobsConnecticut154,200Iowa: 142,000 jobsIowa142,000Mississippi: 137,400 jobsMississippi137,400Kansas: 136,900 jobsKansas136,900Arkansas: 136,200 jobsArkansas136,200Hawaii: 121,600 jobsHawaii121,600Nebraska: 104,700 jobsNebraska104,700New Mexico: 99,500 jobsNew Mexico99,500Idaho: 94,600 jobsIdaho94,600New Hampshire: 78,400 jobsNew Hampshire78,400District of Columbia: 76,000 jobsDistrict of Columbia76,000West Virginia: 72,000 jobsWest Virginia72,000Montana: 71,700 jobsMontana71,700Maine: 70,700 jobsMaine70,700Rhode Island: 59,500 jobsRhode Island59,500South Dakota: 54,500 jobsSouth Dakota54,500Delaware: 51,500 jobsDelaware51,500North Dakota: 42,000 jobsNorth Dakota42,000Wyoming: 39,900 jobsWyoming39,900Alaska: 38,400 jobsAlaska38,400Vermont: 35,600 jobsVermont35,600California: 2,061,300 jobsCalifornia2,061,300Texas: 1,561,100 jobsTexas1,561,100Florida: 1,341,700 jobsFlorida1,341,700New York: 920,300 jobsNew York920,300Illinois: 606,900 jobsIllinois606,900Pennsylvania: 584,900 jobsPennsylvania584,900Ohio: 568,200 jobsOhio568,200North Carolina: 558,100 jobsNorth Carolina558,100Georgia: 516,700 jobsGeorgia516,700Michigan: 432,200 jobsMichigan432,200Virginia: 424,200 jobsVirginia424,200New Jersey: 402,200 jobsNew Jersey402,200Tennessee: 373,900 jobsTennessee373,900Massachusetts: 362,000 jobsMassachusetts362,000Nevada: 360,900 jobsNevada360,900Arizona: 359,900 jobsArizona359,900Colorado: 358,800 jobsColorado358,800Washington: 348,200 jobsWashington348,200Missouri: 318,500 jobsMissouri318,500Indiana: 300,200 jobsIndiana300,200Wisconsin: 296,600 jobsWisconsin296,600South Carolina: 291,300 jobsSouth Carolina291,300Maryland: 277,000 jobsMaryland277,000Minnesota: 276,700 jobsMinnesota276,700Louisiana: 225,900 jobsLouisiana225,900Alabama: 224,000 jobsAlabama224,000Kentucky: 208,500 jobsKentucky208,500Oregon: 203,400 jobsOregon203,400Oklahoma: 182,100 jobsOklahoma182,100Utah: 178,800 jobsUtah178,800Connecticut: 154,200 jobsConnecticut154,200Iowa: 142,000 jobsIowa142,000Mississippi: 137,400 jobsMississippi137,400Kansas: 136,900 jobsKansas136,900Arkansas: 136,200 jobsArkansas136,200Hawaii: 121,600 jobsHawaii121,600Nebraska: 104,700 jobsNebraska104,700New Mexico: 99,500 jobsNew Mexico99,500Idaho: 94,600 jobsIdaho94,600New Hampshire: 78,400 jobsNew Hampshire78,400District of Columbia: 76,000 jobsDistrict of Columbia76,000West Virginia: 72,000 jobsWest Virginia72,000Montana: 71,700 jobsMontana71,700Maine: 70,700 jobsMaine70,700Rhode Island: 59,500 jobsRhode Island59,500South Dakota: 54,500 jobsSouth Dakota54,500Delaware: 51,500 jobsDelaware51,500North Dakota: 42,000 jobsNorth Dakota42,000Wyoming: 39,900 jobsWyoming39,900Alaska: 38,400 jobsAlaska38,400Vermont: 35,600 jobsVermont35,600
jobs. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStatesAugust 2026
jobs		Change on August 2025
1California Provisional2,061,300+2.3%
2Texas Provisional1,561,100+2.2%
3Florida Provisional1,341,700+0.9%
4New York Provisional920,300-1.4%
5Illinois Provisional606,900+0.2%
6Pennsylvania Provisional584,900+2.2%
7Ohio Provisional568,200-0.4%
8North Carolina Provisional558,100+3.1%
9Georgia Provisional516,700-0.5%
10Michigan Provisional432,200+0.3%
11Virginia Provisional424,200+0.7%
12New Jersey Provisional402,200-1.5%
13Tennessee Provisional373,900+1.9%
14Massachusetts Provisional362,000-0.1%
15Nevada Provisional360,900-0.8%
16Arizona Provisional359,900-2.5%
17Colorado Provisional358,800+2.6%
18Washington Provisional348,200+0.8%
19Missouri Provisional318,500+2.9%
20Indiana Provisional300,200-4.3%
21Wisconsin Provisional296,600+2.2%
22South Carolina Provisional291,300+3.7%
23Maryland Provisional277,000+3.2%
24Minnesota Provisional276,700+1.1%
25Louisiana Provisional225,900+0.2%
26Alabama Provisional224,000+4.8%
27Kentucky Provisional208,500+0.9%
28Oregon Provisional203,400-1.6%
29Oklahoma Provisional182,100-0.2%
30Utah Provisional178,800+1%
31Connecticut Provisional154,200-1.2%
32Iowa Provisional142,000-1%
33Mississippi Provisional137,400+1.3%
34Kansas Provisional136,900+2.3%
35Arkansas Provisional136,200+3.2%
36Hawaii Provisional121,600+0.9%
37Nebraska Provisional104,700+2.5%
38New Mexico Provisional99,500+0.2%
39Idaho Provisional94,600-0.5%
40New Hampshire Provisional78,400+2%
41District of Columbia Provisional76,000+0.4%
42West Virginia Provisional72,000-1%
43Montana Provisional71,700-3.2%
44Maine Provisional70,700+0.7%
45Rhode Island Provisional59,500-3.3%
46South Dakota Provisional54,500+7.5%
47Delaware Provisional51,500-1.9%
48North Dakota Provisional42,000+2.9%
49Wyoming Provisional39,900+4.5%
50Alaska Provisional38,400+5.8%
51Vermont Provisional35,600+0.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of jobs on leisure and hospitality payrolls in the month, seasonally adjusted, from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The supersector covers arts, entertainment and recreation, and accommodation and food services.

One of the eleven CES supersectors that make up nonfarm_payroll_employment. Counts jobs on nonfarm payrolls, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. It covers full-time and part-time employees paid for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month, and excludes the self-employed, farm workers, private household workers and unpaid family workers.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001) (US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current

MLA 9

Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001), US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001), US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_leisure_2026,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001): US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001): US states by leisure and hospitality payroll employment, 2026-08
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/18
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/leisure-hospitality-jobs/us-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.74.LeisureAndHospitality.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest leisure and hospitality payroll employment?

California, with 2,061,300 jobs in August 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest leisure and hospitality payroll employment?

Vermont, with 35,600 jobs in August 2026.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, leisure and hospitality, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000007000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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