Which states have the highest unemployment?

In September 2026, District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 5.6%, followed by California (5.1%) and Connecticut (5.1%). South Dakota had the lowest at 2.0%, and the US rate was 4.2%. Rates are BLS monthly estimates for each state, seasonally adjusted.

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Key facts

Measure: Percent of the labor force unemployed, seasonally adjusted. Written from the data below.

  • District of Columbia has the highest figure, 5.6%, followed by California (5.1%) and Connecticut (5.1%).
  • South Dakota has the lowest figure, 2%, followed by North Dakota (2.2%) and Vermont (2.6%).
  • The highest is 2.8 times the lowest.
  • U.S. average: 4.2%. Of the 51 compared, 18 are above it, 31 below, and 2 the same.

This chart is one of the 50 in The U.S. in 50 charts, 2026, a yearly report of the key numbers on how the country is doing.

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Source and date

Source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Which states have the highest unemployment?” Chart. Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/lau/ (data as of September 30, 2026). https://chart.ly/charts/unemployment-rate-by-state (accessed November 4, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).

State Percent of the labor force unemployed, seasonally adjusted
District of Columbia 5.6
California 5.1
Connecticut 5.1
Michigan 5
Oregon 5
Arizona 4.9
Washington 4.8
Kentucky 4.7
Nevada 4.7
New Mexico 4.7
Delaware 4.6
Illinois 4.6
Minnesota 4.5
Florida 4.4
Texas 4.4
Alaska 4.3
Massachusetts 4.3
New York 4.3
New Jersey 4.2
Oklahoma 4.2
U.S. average 4.2
Colorado 4.1
Louisiana 4
South Carolina 4
West Virginia 4
Arkansas 3.9
Maryland 3.9
Kansas 3.8
Idaho 3.6
Missouri 3.6
Pennsylvania 3.6
Rhode Island 3.6
Virginia 3.6
Alabama 3.5
Utah 3.5
Indiana 3.4
North Carolina 3.4
Ohio 3.4
Tennessee 3.4
Georgia 3.3
Maine 3.3
Mississippi 3.3
Iowa 3.2
Wisconsin 3.2
Montana 3.1
Wyoming 3
Nebraska 2.9
Hawaii 2.8
New Hampshire 2.6
Vermont 2.6
North Dakota 2.2
South Dakota 2

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