Three Hampton Roads cities are in the top 15 on a list of the hardest working cities in the country, produced by personal finance website WalletHub. They compared over 100 of the largest cities in the country on 11 different indicators that included average workweek hours, vacation time left unused, idle youth, and workers with multiple jobs.

According to Wallethub, Virginia Beach is the 3rd hardest working city in the country, Norfolk the 7th, and Chesapeake the 11th hardest working city. 

But is that necessarily a good thing? In America, workers are more productive than they’ve ever been, but aren’t paid nearly as much as they would be if wages had kept up with inflation over the last few decades. Does Hampton Roads need to work harder?

Well, no. According to BestPlaces.net, cost of living in Virginia Beach—the most expensive of the three and the largest Virginia city—is 41% lower than Los Angeles, and 39% lower than New York City. Housing costs for a homeowner in Virginia Beach are 61% less than in Los Angeles, and 60% less than in New York City. Meanwhile median household income in Virginia Beach is actually higher than that in both New York and Los Angeles.

And things are only getting better for Virginians when it comes to pay, as legislation that will steadily increase the minimum wage—and thus all wages—is already in effect. The minimum wage increased to $11/hour the first of this year, making it higher than 30 other states. The same legislation is scheduled to increase minimum wage to $15/hour in four years.

Hampton Roads may work hard, but we certainly enjoy the benefits of that hard work.

The number one hardest working city in the country is Anchorage, Alaska, followed by Washington, DC.