DC leads nation in payroll-to-population rate

While the Midwest dominated in job creation in 2013, a new poll finds it’s the nation’s capital that is in the best shape for the number of employed adults.

According to a Gallup poll, Washington, D.C., had the highest payroll-to-population rate in the country in 2013, at 55.7 percent. Overall payroll-to-population rate for the United States is 43.8 percent.

Payroll-to-population metrics track the percentage of the adult population, 18 years and older, employed full time and working at least 30 hours per week for an employer. According to Gallup’s Ben Ryan, this type of index “provides a good reflection of a state’s economic vitality.”

A state’s demographics greatly affect the numbers, and states with large older and retired populations would have a lower P2P rate. In 2013, D.C.’s population was nearly 650,000, and 11 percent of that was 65 years old or older. Since 2010, most of the population growth in the District has been among those between the ages 25-39, according to Census data.

D.C. is followed closely in this poll by North Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota at 52.2 percent, 51.4 percent and 50.7 percent, respectively. Among the lowest states are West Virginia, Mississippi and New Mexico at 36.1 percent, 37.1 percent and 37.4 percent, respectively.

The data is based on more than 356,000 interviews with American adults conducted throughout 2013.