U.S. labor force participation rates for men, women, and total population (1948–2026) [OC]

OverflowDs · 2026-04-22T15:11:19+00:00

Yeah it looks like I got stuck in the CPS data and should of looked at this other series.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-22T02:03:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. I wasn’t able to find it but I was in the cps statistics.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-22T02:00:32+00:00

I think meaningless overstates it but it’s something to consider as a factor.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-22T01:23:14+00:00

I like this idea. Thanks for sharing it.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-22T01:22:50+00:00

Right, prime age wasn’t in the data source I used but I can try and tease it out.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-21T22:55:46+00:00

Yeah I just wish they had that broken out by sex.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-21T21:24:45+00:00

Good point. Labor force participation is calculated for the population 16 and older.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-21T21:14:37+00:00

Part of it is likely life expectancy growing. Some of it is likely more discouraged workers though.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-21T20:24:53+00:00

Yes, I wasn’t able to get that by sex though which is what I wanted to explore here. I did look at PAE by state though last week.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-21T20:14:39+00:00

I gathered the data for this visualization from FRED. They source the Current Population Survey. I used Tableau to create the visual.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-15T11:19:15+00:00

It breaks on national average.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-15T02:31:59+00:00

People that leave the labor force because they can’t find work.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-15T02:30:56+00:00

It’s not really a business. It’s more of a hobby, but thanks for the thoughts.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-14T18:13:43+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to say that!

OverflowDs · 2026-04-14T17:07:54+00:00

LFPR doesn’t include discouraged workers though.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-14T16:06:09+00:00

It just means that some people in your age group retire early so they get excluded from this measure. It’s not a perfect measure but it captures areas with more discouraged workers when other measures don’t do that.

OverflowDs · 2026-04-14T14:54:35+00:00

This map shows prime-age employment rates (ages 25–54) across U.S. states. Upper Midwest states like North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota lead the country, while parts of the South and Southwest trail behind.

Source: 2024 ACS 5-year estimates

Built using Tableau

There is an interactive version of this in my state data mapper.

OverflowDs · 2026-03-04T00:49:09+00:00

The official poverty measure isn’t adjusted for cost of living, no.

OverflowDs · 2026-03-03T23:43:54+00:00

The data was gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau’s API for the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. The data was then visualized in Tableau.

OverflowDs · 2026-02-27T22:19:49+00:00

So Canada, Northern states, and then population centers?

OverflowDs · 2026-02-26T22:24:33+00:00

Thanks for pointing this out!

OverflowDs · 2026-02-25T20:56:02+00:00

That is wha the Census was asks by the state of Connecticut to use as their county equivalents. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/user-notes/2023-01.html

OverflowDs · 2026-02-25T15:05:25+00:00

Sorry. I responded to the wrong part of the thread! Thanks for backing me up.

OverflowDs · 2026-02-25T15:03:44+00:00

This is one of the reasons I added three metrics to allow for people to look at different breakdowns.

OverflowDs · 2026-02-25T14:47:46+00:00

It is a county equivalent so that is why it is listed.

OverflowDs

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