Santa Clarita lauded as hard-working city

Average commute time, workweek, percentage of workforce, among metrics used to rank cities in nation

Many consider business to be the backbone of the Santa Clarita Valley, so local leaders weren’t too surprised to hear Kempler Industries named Santa Clarita the 12th-hardest-working city in the entire nation.

Kempler Industries analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau from nearly 200 cities across the U.S. that had a population of 150,000 or greater in order to rank the hardest-working cities in America, according to a news release. “They then ranked each city from hardest working to least, and found that Santa Clarita ranked as the No. 12 hardest-working city in America.”

Rankings were based on the following metrics:

Average commute time: Santa Clarita averaged 34.9 minutes Average workweek hours: Santa Clarita averaged 38.4 hours

Percentage of workforce population aged 16-64: 63.9%

Percentage of senior workforce aged 65 and up: 20.2%

The percentage of unused vacation days: 30.5%

Santa Clarita received an overall score of 77.5, which was just 1.2 points shy of placing ninth in the nation, according to the online rankings.

“We know well that we have a large working-age population and that’s one of the things that makes us an attractive location for businesses,” said Holly Schroeder, president and CEO of the SCV Economic Development Corp.

“The workforce is also very educated,” Schroeder added, stating more than two-thirds of SCV residents have some form of postsecondary education. “That provides a lot of career opportunities, so I’m not entirely surprised to see we’re so hard working.”

Councilwoman Laurene Weste said the area’s number of dedicated workers reminds her of communities in middle America.

“It’s interesting because I think of Santa Clarita as a Midwestern little-big city that’s adjacent to a metropolis,” Weste said in an interview Wednesday. “We have a lot of seniors and young kids working hard, but we also play hard.

“And it’s great news that people are looking at Santa Clarita from a national perspective,” Weste added. “I am so happy that we’re getting acknowledged because this is a team effort.”

San Francisco was the only California city to make the top10, and seven of Kempler Industries’ hardest-working cities were located in Texas, according to the company’s website. New York City placed 10th, while Washington, D.C., was named the hardest-working city in America with an overall score of 90.