Frontline & Gig Workforce Map
Pay, turnover, compliance, and demand data for the industries the Work Passport serves — for HR leaders and policymakers alike.
CleoHR · Workforce Survey Data · Built in Boston, covering all 50 states + DC
Data verified Sep 2026
Pay & turnover: BLS OEWS May 2025 release · BLS JOLTS 2026 · confirmed current
Min. wage & living wage: State DOL rates + MIT Living Wage Calculator, 2026 vintage · changes every Jan 1 and periodically mid-year — recheck each quarter
Compliance (E-Verify/sick leave/fair-chance): E-Verify: NCSL state tracker + USCIS.gov. Sick leave: Congressional Research Service R48921 (Mar 2026). Fair-chance: National Employment Law Project state guide, cross-checked for 2026 updates. This category moves fastest of anything on this page — verify against the current state statute before relying on it.
Turnover cost benchmarks: Work Institute 2025 Retention Report, McKinsey, SHRM, Gallup · updated annually
Gig / 1099 share: Federal Reserve SHED (most recent wave), McKinsey American Opportunity Survey
Roles, skills & growth regions: Role-tier wages: BLS OEWS May 2025. Skills/certifications: industry hiring & resume-guide sources, 2026. Growth regions: industrial real estate and state labor-market reporting, 2025–26 — geographic notes are directional, not a modeled forecast.
- Avg. median hourly wage across the 11 tracked frontline industries (BLS OEWS/OOH, May 2025)
- $18.53
- Avg. monthly quits rate across the 8 industries with JOLTS-tracked data, vs. 2.1% economy-wide (BLS JOLTS, 2026)
- 2.8%
- Require E-Verify for every private employer regardless of size (AL, AZ, MS, SC)
- 4 states
- States with a broad mandatory paid-sick-leave law
- 20 + DC
CleoHR Research
CleoHR started because our founder's first job was behind a fast-food counter — and frontline hiring has run on paperwork, repeat screening, and zero portable proof ever since. This map extends the research behind our 2025 Frontline Hiring Index: same commitment to real, sourced numbers over survey opinion, now broken out state by state and industry by industry. We publish our methodology in the open — see Sources at the bottom of every section — because a credential company that can't show its own work doesn't deserve to be trusted with anyone else's.
Look up a state
Every metric on this page, for one state. Defaults to Massachusetts — change it to see any of the 51.
Pick a state above to see its full profile.
Massachusetts
2nd highest living wage of 51 · 10th highest minimum wage of 51 · 3rd largest min-wage-to-living-wage gap of 51
- Minimum wage / hr
- $15.00
- Living wage, single adult / hr
- $31.82
- Min.-wage-to-living-wage gap / hr
- $16.82
- Annual shortfall, full-time min. wage
- $34,986
- E-Verify: Voluntary
- Paid sick leave: Mandatory
- Fair-chance hiring: Covers private employers
| Industry | Nat'l median wage | Gap to Massachusetts living wage | Annual shortfall, FT | Monthly quits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Service / QSR | $15.24/hr | −$16.58/hr | −$34,486/yr | 4.2% |
| Retail | $16.15/hr | −$15.67/hr | −$32,594/yr | 3.1% |
| Warehouse & Logistics | $18.38/hr | −$13.44/hr | −$27,955/yr | 2.2% |
| Home Health / Personal Care | $17.21/hr | −$14.61/hr | −$30,389/yr | 2% |
| Security / Protective Services | $17.82/hr | −$14.00/hr | −$29,120/yr | 2.3% |
| Hospitality / Accommodation | $16.90/hr | −$14.92/hr | −$31,034/yr | 3.9% |
| Construction | $22.44/hr | −$9.38/hr | −$19,510/yr | 2.7% |
| Manufacturing / Production | $24.08/hr | −$7.74/hr | −$16,099/yr | 1.7% |
| Agriculture | $17.25/hr | −$14.57/hr | −$30,306/yr | — |
| Childcare | $16.82/hr | −$15.00/hr | −$31,200/yr | — |
| Customer Service | $21.53/hr | −$10.29/hr | −$21,403/yr | — |
Industry benchmarks
Pay, turnover, roles, skills, and where each industry is growing.
- Up 5% by 2035
Food Service / QSR
Combined food prep & counter workers
- wage
- $15.24/hr
- employed
- 3.9M (largest occ.)
- quits/mo
- 4.2%
Highest turnover of any major industry — accommodation & food services led all sectors on JOLTS quits rate in 2026.
Employer landscape
~60% of restaurant locations are independent operators; the rest are chains/franchises, which employ 2.1x as many people per unit on average.
Types of jobs
- Fast food & counter workers $15.24/hr median
- Cooks, fast food $30,890/yr median
- Chefs & head cooks $62,470/yr median
Skills in demand
- ServSafe / food handler cert.
- HACCP food-safety knowledge
- POS system proficiency
- Alcohol service compliance (where applicable)
Where it's growing
No single hub — tracks local population density. Fastest raw job additions are in growing Sun Belt metros (Florida, Texas) simply because population is growing there.
- Down 0.2% by 2035
Retail
Retail salespersons
- wage
- $16.15/hr
- employed
- 3.9M (largest occ.)
- quits/mo
- 3.1%
Only frontline category projected to shrink 2025–2035, per BLS Employment Projections — store roles are contracting as e-commerce grows.
Employer landscape
Highly concentrated at the top: a small number of national chains account for a large share of total retail employment; independents make up the long tail of establishments but a much smaller share of jobs.
Types of jobs
- Retail sales workers / cashiers $17.46/hr · $36,320/yr median
- First-line supervisors, retail sales $25.66/hr · $53,380/yr median
Skills in demand
- POS & omnichannel fulfillment systems
- Inventory management software
- Curbside / ship-from-store logistics
- Customer service
Where it's growing
Shrinking on the floor, growing at the edges — what growth exists is in fulfillment-adjacent roles (ship-from-store, curbside pickup) rather than traditional sales-floor headcount.
- Up 4% by 2035
Warehouse & Logistics
Hand laborers & material movers
- wage
- $18.38/hr
- employed
- ~2.4M
- quits/mo
- 2.2%
~904K openings/yr from replacement need alone. Quits rate reflects transportation, warehousing & utilities (BLS JOLTS).
Employer landscape
Mix of company-owned distribution (Amazon, Walmart, Target) and third-party logistics (3PL) firms working on contract — demand concentrated around Dallas–Fort Worth, Atlanta/Savannah, the Inland Empire, Memphis, Louisville, and Columbus.
Types of jobs
- Hand laborers & material movers $18.38/hr median
- Industrial truck & forklift operators above group median
- Transportation & material moving group $44,350/yr group median
Skills in demand
- OSHA forklift certification (Classes I–V, renewed every 3 yrs)
- WMS (warehouse management system) software
- RF scanner / barcode systems
- Comfort working alongside robotics & automation
Where it's growing
Concentrated around major logistics hubs: Dallas–Fort Worth, Atlanta/Savannah, the Inland Empire (CA), Memphis, Louisville, Columbus/Rickenbacker, and Phoenix.
- Up 18% by 2035
Home Health / Personal Care
Home health & personal care aides
- wage
- $17.21/hr
- employed
- 4.3M (largest occupation, all jobs)
- quits/mo
- 2%
Fastest-growing frontline category tracked here — ~760K openings/yr driven by an aging population.
Employer landscape
Split between licensed home-care agencies, Medicaid-funded personal-care programs, and workers hired directly/privately by families outside any agency — the private-hire share is not centrally tracked.
Types of jobs
- Home health & personal care aides $17.21/hr · $35,800/yr median
- Certified nursing assistants (CNA) above aide pay
Skills in demand
- State HHA/CNA certification (rules vary by state)
- CPR / First Aid
- Basic care-documentation / EMR software
- Growing telehealth-support tasks
Where it's growing
Concentrated where senior populations are largest and fastest-growing: Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona.
- Up 8% by 2035
Security / Protective Services
Security guards
- wage
- $17.82/hr
- employed
- ~1.2M
- quits/mo
- 2.3%
Steady, unglamorous demand — one of the largest net-new-job categories in protective services.
Employer landscape
Dominated by a small number of national contract-security firms (Allied Universal, Securitas, GardaWorld, G4S) alongside in-house corporate/property security teams.
Types of jobs
- Security guards $17.82/hr · $37,070/yr median
- Armed / supervisory roles above guard pay
Skills in demand
- State security-guard licensing (requirements vary by state)
- CPR / First Aid
- Surveillance-camera & access-control system literacy
Where it's growing
No dominant regional hub found in available data — demand tracks commercial, retail, and event footprint broadly. Flagged as a data gap below.
- Up 6% by 2035
Hospitality / Accommodation
Hotel, hospitality & leisure staff
- wage
- $16.90/hr
- employed
- ~2.1M
- quits/mo
- 3.9%
Leisure & hospitality overall ran a 3.9% quits rate in 2026 — 2nd highest of any major BLS industry group.
Employer landscape
Heavily franchised — most hotel-brand properties are independently owned and operated under a franchise/management agreement, not run directly by the brand.
Types of jobs
- Housekeeping & front-desk staff $16.90/hr median
- Food & beverage / event staff overlaps with food service pay bands
Skills in demand
- Property management system (PMS) software
- ServSafe / food handler cert. (F&B roles)
- Guest-service / CRM tools
- Shift & scheduling flexibility
Where it's growing
Concentrated in tourism and leisure Sun Belt markets — Nevada (Las Vegas/Reno: tourism + logistics), Florida, and broader Sun Belt/Mountain West momentum.
- no data
Transportation & Gig Delivery
Delivery drivers, rideshare, courier
- wage
- —
- employed
- Not centrally tracked
- quits/mo
- —
Independent-contractor classification means no official BLS wage or turnover series exists. Flagged as a survey priority below.
Employer landscape
Almost entirely platform-mediated (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex) rather than traditional employers — workers are 1099 contractors of the platform.
Types of jobs
- Rideshare drivers not centrally tracked
- Delivery / courier (food, grocery, parcel) not centrally tracked
Skills in demand
- Smartphone / dispatch-app literacy
- Valid license, insurance & vehicle maintenance
- Navigation & routing apps
Where it's growing
Not centrally tracked — this is exactly the blind spot a Passport survey question could fill.
- Up 6% by 2035
Construction
Construction laborers & helpers
- wage
- $22.44/hr
- employed
- 1.1M+
- quits/mo
- 2.7%
~137K openings/yr. Quits rate is an approximate historical baseline (BLS JOLTS construction industry runs 2.5–3% in most months) — confirm current month before relying on it.
Employer landscape
Dominated by small contractors and subcontractors — most construction firms have fewer than 10 employees, working project-to-project under a general contractor rather than one steady employer.
Types of jobs
- Construction laborers & helpers $22.44/hr median
- Electricians $34.37/hr median
- Plumbers, pipefitters & steamfitters $34.70/hr median
Skills in demand
- OSHA 10/30 safety certification
- Trade apprenticeship or on-the-job training
- Equipment operation & basic blueprint reading
- Physical stamina & weather tolerance
Where it's growing
Concentrated where building activity is highest — Texas, Florida, and the Sun Belt broadly, plus infrastructure/energy states like Wyoming and North Dakota.
- no data
Manufacturing / Production
Assemblers, machine operators & production workers
- wage
- $24.08/hr
- employed
- 8.7M (2024)
- quits/mo
- 1.7%
Figure shown is a group mean (not median) covering 2024 — wages span widely from entry-level assembly to skilled machinists. 2025-specific detail and a confirmed 10-year growth rate were not available this pass; growth shown as unconfirmed rather than guessed.
Employer landscape
Mostly large-plant employers (automotive, food processing, electronics) alongside a long tail of small manufacturers — increasingly investing in automation for repetitive tasks.
Types of jobs
- Production workers, all other entry-level assembly & line work
- Machinists & CNC operators skilled, certification-based, higher tier
Skills in demand
- Basic machine/equipment operation
- Quality inspection & safety compliance
- Increasingly, working alongside robotics/automation
- Forklift or material-handling certification (plant-dependent)
Where it's growing
Concentrated in traditional manufacturing states — the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois) — and growing in the Southeast as auto and battery plants expand there.
- Down 2% by 2035
Agriculture
Farmworkers & agricultural laborers
- wage
- $17.25/hr
- employed
- see the note below
- quits/mo
- —
Employed: Undercounted — much farm work occurs on operations excluded from standard establishment surveys
One of the few frontline categories projected to shrink — and one of the least visible in labor data, since JOLTS excludes agricultural establishments entirely (quits rate not shown for that reason, not omitted by choice). ~111.5K openings/yr despite the decline.
Employer landscape
A mix of large agribusiness operations and small family farms; a significant share of workers are hired seasonally through farm labor contractors rather than directly by the farm.
Types of jobs
- General farmworkers & laborers $17.25/hr median
Skills in demand
- Physical stamina & outdoor weather tolerance
- Basic equipment/machinery operation
- Often bilingual (Spanish/English) worksites
- H-2A visa program literacy for seasonal/migrant roles
Where it's growing
Concentrated in major agricultural states: California, Texas, Florida, and the broader Midwest farm belt.
- Down 2% by 2035
Childcare
Childcare workers
- wage
- $16.82/hr
- employed
- see the note below
- quits/mo
- —
Employed: Several hundred thousand — likely undercounted since informal/unlicensed care isn’t captured
The lowest-paid role tracked on this page. Projected to shrink even as care work broadly grows — low pay likely pushes workers toward better-paying care roles (like home health) rather than demand actually falling. Quits rate not shown: spans multiple JOLTS industry categories, not separately tracked.
Employer landscape
Split between licensed daycare centers/chains, in-home family childcare providers, and Head Start/public pre-K — plus a large informal/unlicensed segment these figures don’t capture.
Types of jobs
- Childcare workers $16.82/hr median
Skills in demand
- State childcare licensing/certification
- CPR & First Aid
- Basic early-childhood-development knowledge
- Background-check clearance (near-universal requirement)
Where it's growing
No single concentration — demand tracks population and birth rates broadly, with the sharpest shortages reported in rural areas and lower-income urban neighborhoods.
- Down 5% by 2035
Customer Service
Customer service representatives
- wage
- $21.53/hr
- employed
- see the note below
- quits/mo
- —
Employed: Large, cross-industry occupation — not concentrated in one sector
One of the steepest projected declines tracked on this page — call/chat volume increasingly handled by AI and self-service before reaching a person. Quits rate not shown: this role spans nearly every industry rather than sitting in one JOLTS category. ~289.5K openings/yr despite the decline.
Employer landscape
Spans nearly every industry — call centers, retail, banking, telecom, insurance — rather than concentrating in one sector; a growing share of roles are remote.
Types of jobs
- Customer service representatives $21.53/hr median
Skills in demand
- CRM & help-desk software proficiency
- De-escalation & conflict resolution
- Multi-channel communication (phone, chat, email)
- Increasingly, working alongside AI chatbots rather than being replaced outright
Where it's growing
Not concentrated geographically — remote/distributed work has spread this role nationally rather than clustering it in specific metros.
State map: pay, cost of living & compliance
Toggle pay/living-wage and hiring-compliance layers across all 51 states. Operating in more than one? Use Compare states below — E-Verify, sick leave, and fair-chance rules rarely match across state lines.
What would close the gap? Closing the Living-Wage Gap: Massachusetts as the Test Case
Tap or hover any state for its numbers.
Pay below the living wage, per hour
- At or above the living wage
- Up to $4
- $4 to $8
- $8 to $12
- $12 or more
Ctrl + scroll or the buttons to zoom Pinch or use the buttons to zoom
Hover a state
Tap or hover any state for its numbers. In compare mode, click to select.
Furthest behind
- Hawaii$14.96/hr
- Massachusetts$13.29/hr
- New York$11.82/hr
- New Jersey$10.85/hr
- Connecticut$10.53/hr
Closest to / above living wage
- Mississippi−$0.55/hr
- Alabama−$0.38/hr
- Arkansas−$0.06/hr
- West Virginia$0.16/hr
- Louisiana$0.20/hr
Side-by-side comparison
Arrow keys move between states; each state’s numbers show beside or below the map.
All 50 states + DC
Sortable, searchable. Gap = living wage minus minimum wage, per hour.
51 states, sorted by gap, largest first
| New Hampshire | $7.25 | $26.73 | $19.48 | Voluntary | No | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $16.00 | $33.49 | $17.49 | Voluntary | No | Yes |
| Massachusetts Home base | $15.00 | $31.82 | $16.82 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Utah | $7.25 | $23.09 | $15.84 | Threshold | No | No |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | $22.93 | $15.68 | Public only | No | No |
| Texas | $7.25 | $22.93 | $15.68 | Public only | No | Yes |
| Wisconsin | $7.25 | $21.73 | $14.48 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Wyoming | $7.25 | $21.52 | $14.27 | Voluntary | No | No |
| South Carolina | $7.25 | $21.47 | $14.22 | All employers | No | No |
| Idaho | $7.25 | $21.38 | $14.13 | Public only | No | No |
| Minnesota | $11.13 | $25.02 | $13.89 | Public only | Yes | Yes |
| New Jersey | $15.49 | $29.38 | $13.89 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| New York | $16.50 | $30.35 | $13.85 | Voluntary | Yes | No |
| North Carolina | $7.25 | $21.09 | $13.84 | Threshold | No | No |
| Georgia | $7.25 | $21.01 | $13.76 | Threshold | No | No |
| North Dakota | $7.25 | $20.74 | $13.49 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Tennessee | $7.25 | $20.44 | $13.19 | Threshold | No | No |
| Vermont | $14.01 | $26.91 | $12.90 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Kansas | $7.25 | $20.12 | $12.87 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Indiana | $7.25 | $20.03 | $12.78 | Public only | No | No |
| Maryland | $15.00 | $27.64 | $12.64 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Iowa | $7.25 | $19.78 | $12.53 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Oregon | $15.05 | $27.57 | $12.52 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Oklahoma | $7.25 | $19.62 | $12.37 | Public only | No | No |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $29.06 | $12.12 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Rhode Island | $15.00 | $27.11 | $12.11 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Kentucky | $7.25 | $18.93 | $11.68 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Virginia | $12.41 | $24.04 | $11.63 | Public only | No | No |
| Montana | $10.55 | $22.03 | $11.48 | Threshold | No | No |
| Louisiana | $7.25 | $18.73 | $11.48 | Threshold | No | No |
| Washington | $17.13 | $28.43 | $11.30 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Nevada | $12.00 | $23.16 | $11.16 | Voluntary | Yes, earned paid leave | No |
| Alabama | $7.25 | $18.15 | $10.90 | All employers | No | No |
| Colorado | $15.00 | $25.81 | $10.81 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Alaska | $13.00 | $23.74 | $10.74 | Voluntary | Yes | No |
| Mississippi | $7.25 | $17.98 | $10.73 | All employers | No | No |
| Illinois | $15.00 | $25.41 | $10.41 | Restricted | Yes, earned paid leave | Yes |
| California | $17.00 | $27.32 | $10.32 | Restricted | Yes | Yes |
| West Virginia | $8.75 | $18.69 | $9.94 | Public only | No | No |
| Ohio | $10.70 | $20.51 | $9.81 | Public only | No | No |
| Maine | $14.65 | $24.37 | $9.72 | Voluntary | Yes, earned paid leave | Yes |
| New Mexico | $12.00 | $21.62 | $9.62 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Washington, DC | $18.40 | $28.00 | $9.60 | Voluntary | Yes | Yes |
| Florida | $14.00 | $23.59 | $9.59 | Threshold | No | No |
| Delaware | $15.00 | $23.85 | $8.85 | Voluntary | No | No |
| South Dakota | $11.50 | $20.29 | $8.79 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Michigan | $13.73 | $21.47 | $7.74 | Public only | Yes | No |
| Arkansas | $11.00 | $18.47 | $7.47 | Voluntary | No | No |
| Arizona | $14.90 | $22.17 | $7.27 | All employers | Yes | No |
| Missouri | $15.00 | $20.55 | $5.55 | Public only | No | No |
| Nebraska | $15.00 | $20.39 | $5.39 | Public only | Yes | No |
No state or DC matches “”. Check the spelling, or search by the two-letter code.
* IL, ME, NV mandate broader "earned paid leave" (usable for any reason, not just sickness) rather than a dedicated sick-leave law — both count as ✓ here. Source: Congressional Research Service, R48921.
Cost‑of‑turnover calculator
What your turnover is actually costing you.
Workforce classification: 1099 vs. W-2
How much of this workforce is even employer-of-record work.
- of U.S. adults report earning money via gig-platform work in the past year (app-based tasks + selling)
- ~20%
- Federal Reserve, Survey of Household Economics & Decisionmaking (SHED), most recent wave
- of the total U.S. workforce engages in independent / freelance work in some form (broader definition than platform gig work)
- ~36%
- McKinsey American Opportunity Survey
- There is no official BLS series for "1099 vs. W-2" specifically within rideshare, delivery, or warehouse subcontracting
- Not tracked
- BLS Contingent Worker Supplement is the closest proxy, last run 2023
Most of the industries above — food service, retail, warehouse, home health, security, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, childcare, and customer service — are almost entirely W-2. Gig delivery is the outlier — 1099 by design, which is why it doesn't appear in the cards above with full data. A Passport-collected 1099/W-2 self-report would be a genuinely novel dataset.
Where this data stops — and the survey should start
Public labor data covers payroll employment well. It barely sees the workforce Passport actually serves.
-
Gig & platform workers
No official wage, turnover, or headcount data exists for rideshare/delivery — the survey is the only way to get one.
-
City & metro concentration
State data hides real demand clusters. Passport sign-up ZIP/employer data could build that map for real.
-
Turnover reasons & re-hire friction
JOLTS shows a worker quit, never why. That's exactly what a re-usable Passport is positioned to measure.
Where this goes next
This page is a starting point for a conversation, not a finished dataset.
-
MassHire & workforce boards
Partner on the data this page admits it's missing
City and metro-level concentration, turnover reasons, gig-worker headcount — the gaps above are exactly what regional Workforce Development Board data and Passport sign-up data could fill together. We'd like to talk about a Boston-area pilot.
Start a conversation -
Government & policymakers
A briefing on what the compliance data shows
E-Verify, paid sick leave, and fair-chance hiring laws mapped against real wage and living-wage data, state by state. Happy to walk through findings, methodology, and where public data runs out.
Request a briefing -
Employers
See what turnover is actually costing you
Plug your own numbers into the calculator above, then let's talk about what a portable, verified Work Passport could do to the number it spits out.
Talk to us