Work hard, play hard: Colorado voted as a top state for work-life balance

DENVER (KDVR) — In a world where there is more of a priority being placed on good mental and physical health and finding the best work environment to suit a person’s needs, Coloradans can rest easily because a survey conducted by B2B revealed that Colorado had the second best work-life balance across the nation in 2024.

Work-life balance is a term used to describe the amount of time someone spends at work versus the amount of time they spend on personal activities.

Part of sustaining a healthy work-life balance falls onto the shoulders of the employee in situations like saying no to coming in when not scheduled, not taking calls outside of hours and not overworking when on the clock.

As all relationships function, there must also be another party vested and in this case, it is the employer. To help support a better work-life balance for employees, employers can offer things like paid time off, flexible working schedules and breaks to instill a sense of trust and positivity in their relationship with employees.

Promoting a successful work-life balance is beneficial for both the employer and the employee. It can help employees be healthier both mentally and physically which can lead to increased productivity at work and fewer days missed due to sickness according to Mental Health America. They also said that creating the balance results in an increase in happiness in their position and helps with job retention.

In the survey from B2B, they considered a variety of different factors and then converted them into a final weighted score. The factors included commute time, hours worked per week, average earnings per week, maternity leave policy, percentage of remote workers and depression rates.

Colorado work-life balance stats

• Average commute time — 23.3 minutes
• Average hours worked per week — 33.3 hours
• Average earnings per week — $1,258.74
• Maternity leave policy — 12 weeks paid leave
• Percentage of remote workers — 19.9%
• Depression rates — 18.5%
• Final weighted score — 71.7

Colorado had one of the highest remote work percentages, meaning the state is ready to adapt to more nontraditional mediums of work. Companies also offer, on average, one of the longest durations of paid time off for maternity leave in the country. One of the categories Colorado did not perform well in, was the commute to work. It takes Colorado workers nearly half an hour to get to work.

Overall, the survey indicates that Colorado is a leading state in promoting a healthy work-life balance. Only Minnesota finished higher than it in the rankings with a total points score of 76.8.

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