Key Takeaways
- Oklahoma tops the states with the most job openings, (5.5%), buoyed by a rebound in energy drilling.
- Midwest and Southern “Battery Belt” states report elevated openings, reflecting hard-to-fill skilled roles more than a broad hiring boom.
America’s unemployment rate has officially risen higher than the number of job openings in the country for the first time since the end of the pandemic. But there are pockets still hiring.
The chart below ranks states by their 2025 job-opening rates using data for this visualization comes from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures the percentage of all filled and unfilled positions that remain vacant at the end of the month, along with pure counts of openings.
| Rank | State | State Code | Job Openings Rate | # of Job Openings (thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | OK | 5.5% | 104 |
| 2 | Alaska | AK | 5.3% | 19 |
| 3 | Michigan | MI | 5.3% | 253 |
| 4 | West Virginia | WV | 5.3% | 40 |
| 5 | Georgia | GA | 5.2% | 273 |
| 6 | Minnesota | MN | 5.2% | 167 |
| 7 | New Mexico | NM | 5.1% | 49 |
| 8 | Louisiana | LA | 4.9% | 103 |
| 9 | Montana | MT | 4.9% | 27 |
| 10 | New Jersey | NJ | 4.9% | 226 |
| 11 | North Dakota | ND | 4.9% | 23 |
| 12 | Virginia | VA | 4.9% | 220 |
| 13 | Kentucky | KY | 4.8% | 103 |
| 14 | Maine | ME | 4.8% | 33 |
| 15 | North Carolina | NC | 4.8% | 257 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | RI | 4.8% | 26 |
| 17 | South Carolina | SC | 4.8% | 123 |
| 18 | Wyoming | WY | 4.8% | 15 |
| 19 | Arkansas | AR | 4.7% | 68 |
| 20 | Idaho | ID | 4.7% | 44 |
| 21 | Maryland | MD | 4.6% | 137 |
| 22 | Mississippi | MS | 4.6% | 58 |
| 23 | Missouri | MO | 4.6% | 145 |
| 24 | New Hampshire | NH | 4.6% | 34 |
| 25 | Vermont | VT | 4.6% | 15 |
| 26 | Alabama | AL | 4.5% | 105 |
| 27 | Arizona | AZ | 4.5% | 153 |
| 28 | Iowa | IA | 4.5% | 75 |
| 29 | Kansas | KS | 4.5% | 69 |
| 30 | South Dakota | SD | 4.5% | 22 |
| 31 | Wisconsin | WI | 4.4% | 140 |
| 32 | Delaware | DE | 4.3% | 22 |
| 33 | Massachusetts | MA | 4.3% | 169 |
| 34 | Illinois | IL | 4.2% | 272 |
| 35 | Ohio | OH | 4.2% | 253 |
| 36 | Utah | UT | 4.2% | 78 |
| 37 | Nebraska | NE | 4.1% | 46 |
| 38 | Nevada | NV | 4.1% | 67 |
| 39 | New York | NY | 4.1% | 426 |
| 40 | Oregon | OR | 4.1% | 86 |
| 41 | Tennessee | TN | 4.1% | 145 |
| 42 | California | CA | 4.0% | 757 |
| 43 | Connecticut | CT | 4.0% | 71 |
| 44 | Indiana | IN | 4.0% | 137 |
| 45 | Pennsylvania | PA | 4.0% | 261 |
| 46 | Colorado | CO | 3.9% | 121 |
| 47 | Hawaii | HI | 3.8% | 26 |
| 48 | Washington | WA | 3.8% | 146 |
| 49 | Florida | FL | 3.7% | 391 |
| 50 | Texas | TX | 3.7% | 554 |
| 51 | District of Columbia | DC | 3.4% | 27 |
| 52 | U.S. Total | USA | 4.3% | 7,181 |
Read more: Visual Capitalist