New Study Reveals The States And Cities With The Best And Worst Vacation Habits In America

Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Tampa, Los Angeles, and Boston Most Under-Vacationed Cities While Pittsburgh, Chicago, Phoenix, Orlando, and Miami Rank Best in Using Their Paid Time Off

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Project: Time Off

Jun 15, 2017, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite improvement in the amount of vacation days Americans used last year, more than half (54%) of employees still left time on the table in 2016. The 662 million days left unused last year—and their implications for individual employees and workplaces alike—are not felt evenly across America. There are profound geographical differences in U.S. states and cities that influence employees' time off perceptions and behavior.

Project: Time Off's new report, Under-Vacationed America: An Analysis of the States and Cities That Need to Take a Day, provides a look at the vacation behavior in all 50 states and the 30-largest metro areas in the country. Idaho, New Hampshire, and Alaska hold the top spots for the states with the most workers leaving vacation unused. Looking at cities, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Tampa, FL are home to some of the most under-vacationed employees in America.

"Across America, vacation has become the unintended victim of a 24/7 work culture, but there are specific parts of the country living on the edge of burnout where employees particularly need to take time off," said Project: Time Off Senior Director and report author Katie Denis. "The states and cities that have the dubious honor of being at the top of the unused vacation list would do well to realize that employees who take time off are happier, healthier, and more productive."

Unfortunately, many of the areas seeing the worst vacation usage are home to cultures where employees report hearing negative or mixed messages about time off. Where just 17 percent of workers nationally say their company sends negative or mixed messages, the majority of the states in the top ten for leaving unused vacation are more likely to agree, most notably Alaskan workers at 28 percent.

There are some states and cities that are better at vacation usage. Maine, Hawaii, and Arizona top the list of states with employees who are least likely to leave vacation time on the table. For cities, Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, IL, and Phoenix, AZ are home to employees who take more of their earned time off.

"The places where employees use the most vacation tend to have work cultures that encourage time off, enjoy lower fear and anxiety about being away, and are less susceptible to the stress and pressures of being away," added Denis.

Five States with the Most Unused Vacation
STATE	% WITH UNUSED DAYS	UNUSED VACATION DAYS	DIRECT SPENDING POTENTIAL
Idaho	78%	3.1 million	$433 million
New Hampshire	77%	2.7 million	$552 million
Alaska	73%	1.7 million	$651 million
South Dakota	73%	1.8 million	$404 million
Oklahoma	69%	9.7 million	$690 million

Five States with the Least Unused Vacation
STATE	% WITH UNUSED DAYS	UNUSED VACATION DAYS	DIRECT SPENDING POTENTIAL
Maine	38%	2.6 million	$700 million
Hawaii	39%	3.3 million	$4.4 billion
Arizona	41%	11.4 million	$3.2 billion
Alabama	41%	10.1 million	$818 million
Wisconsin	44%	10.6 million	$1.6 billion

Five Cities with the Most Unused Vacation
CITY	% WITH UNUSED DAYS	UNUSED VACATION DAYS	DIRECT SPENDING POTENTIAL
Washington, D.C.	64%	17.3 million	$3.8 billion
San Francisco, CA	64%	12.8 million	$3.1 billion
Tampa, FL	62%	5.1 million	$1.2 billion
Los Angeles, CA	62%	32.5 million	$6.4 billion
Boston, MA	61%	11.6 million	$2.4 billion

Five Cities with the Least Unused Vacation
CITY	% WITH UNUSED DAYS	UNUSED VACATION DAYS	DIRECT SPENDING POTENTIAL
Pittsburgh, PA	40%	4.6 million	$696 million
Chicago, IL	44%	18.2 million	$3.5 billion
Phoenix, AZ	44%	8.2 million	$1.6 billion
Orlando, FL	45%	4.7 million	$3.4 billion
Miami, FL	45%	10.2 million	$2.4 billion

See report for full rankings.

Nationwide, U.S. workers took an average of 16.8 days of vacation in 2016, turning the trend line in a positive direction after losing almost a week of vacation time since 2000. This was up from 16.2 days in 2015. This, however, is a far cry from the 20.3 day long-term average from 1976 to 2000.

While Americans are taking more vacation time, there is also a slight increase in the number of days left unused. In 2016, 662 million vacation days were left on the table, four million days more than 2015. However, forfeited vacation days—time that cannot be rolled over, banked, or paid out—are down eight percent to 206 million forfeited days. Those forfeited days have a cost. Last year, employees gave up $66.4 billion in lost benefits, which translates to an average of $604 per employee.

Methodology
GfK conducted an online survey from January 26-February 20, 2017 with 7,331 American workers, age 18+, who work more than 35 hours a week and receive paid time off from their employer. These data were weighted and scaled. The geographic data below represents all 50 U.S. states and the 30-largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the country, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. For a complete methodology, please see the report.

About Project: Time Off
Project: Time Off is an initiative to win back America's Lost Week of vacation. We aim to shift culture so that taking time off is understood as essential to personal well-being, professional success, business performance, and economic expansion. The initiative is supported by the Project: Time Off Coalition, a broad-based group of organizations focused on changing America's thinking and behavior about vacation time. Learn more at ProjectTimeOff.com.

SOURCE Project: Time Off