# The average US employee turnover rate was 39.7% in 2025, ranging from 16.5% to 73.5% by industry.

Last updated October 19, 2026Data through August 2026Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

The average employee turnover rate in the United States was 39.7% in 2025: for every 100 jobs, about 40 people left. Below is that average for every industry the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks, year by year from 2015, so you can see where your own turnover rate sits.

_Figure: The US average in 2025, per 100 jobs. Total separations 39.7, of which quits 24.0 and layoffs and discharges 13.4. The rest is retirements, transfers and other exits._

Separations per 100 jobs in 2025. Source: BLS JOLTS, total nonfarm.

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## Six in ten exits are people quitting, and one in three is a layoff or discharge.

A separation is any exit from a payroll: someone quits, is laid off, retires or dies. In 2025 the US total was 39.7 per 100 jobs. Of those, 24.0 were quits, meaning people who chose to leave, and 13.4 were layoffs and discharges, the exits an employer starts, from firings to the end of a seasonal job. The small remainder is retirements, transfers between a company's own locations, disability and deaths.

Each rate here is the sum of the twelve monthly rates, which makes it the same kind of number as the annual turnover rate your own company calculates: exits divided by headcount, times 100. The latest single month on file is August 2026, when total separations were 3.2%, quits 1.9% and layoffs and discharges 1.0% (seasonally adjusted, preliminary).

## Accommodation and food services turns over nearly four times as fast as state and local government education.

Across the nineteen industries that add up to the whole economy, arts, entertainment, and recreation comes first at 73.5 and state and local government education comes last at 16.5. Accommodation and food services, at 65.3, loses nearly four times as many people per job as state and local government education. Eight industries run above the US average of 39.7 and eleven run below it.

_Figure: The 19 JOLTS industries ranked by total separations per 100 jobs in 2025, from Arts, entertainment, and recreation at 73.5 down to State and local government education at 16.5. The US average is 39.7. Each bar is split into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other exits._

Separations per 100 jobs. The dashed line is the US average. Source: BLS JOLTS.

## The table below covers every JOLTS industry for every year from 2015 to 2025.

Pick a year, click a heading to sort, or [download the same figures as a CSV file](https://www.teampredict.ai/data/us-turnover-rate-by-industry-2015-2025.csv). Sector rows such as leisure and hospitality include the industries listed under them.

Separations per 100 jobs in **2025**. Click a heading to sort.

Total separations, quits, and layoffs and discharges per 100 jobs for every JOLTS industry in 2025, plus the latest month, August 2026.

| Industry | Total separations | Quits | Layoffs and discharges | Aug 2026 total separations, one month, seasonally adjusted |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation within leisure and hospitality | 73.5 | 26.5 | 45.3 | 5.6 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 66.5 | 47.0 | 18.3 | 5.0 |
| Accommodation and food services within leisure and hospitality | 65.3 | 50.8 | 13.2 | 4.9 |
| Professional and business services | 55.3 | 28.0 | 24.5 | 4.1 |
| Construction | 48.1 | 21.2 | 25.0 | 3.2 |
| Transportation, warehousing, and utilities within trade, transportation, and utilities | 48.0 | 25.9 | 19.6 | 3.5 |
| Retail trade within trade, transportation, and utilities | 45.2 | 30.8 | 12.6 | 4.4 |
| Total private | 43.6 | 26.5 | 15.0 | 3.5 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 42.2 | 26.7 | 14.0 | 3.8 |
| Mining and logging | 40.2 | 25.1 | 12.9 | 3.5 |
| Other services | 39.8 | 27.0 | 11.5 | 3.9 |
| Total nonfarm | 39.7 | 24.0 | 13.4 | 3.2 |
| Health care and social assistance within private education and health services | 34.5 | 24.3 | 8.4 | 3.0 |
| Information | 33.6 | 15.4 | 15.7 | 2.5 |
| Private education and health services | 33.2 | 23.1 | 8.5 | 2.9 |
| Nondurable goods manufacturing within manufacturing | 32.3 | 18.8 | 12.2 | 3.1 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing within financial activities | 31.7 | 19.5 | 10.3 | 1.9 |
| Manufacturing | 29.3 | 16.6 | 10.8 | 2.5 |
| Wholesale trade within trade, transportation, and utilities | 27.5 | 17.0 | 9.1 | 2.8 |
| Private educational services within private education and health services | 27.3 | 16.8 | 8.7 | 2.6 |
| Durable goods manufacturing within manufacturing | 27.2 | 15.4 | 10.2 | 2.0 |
| Financial activities | 27.0 | 16.1 | 7.6 | 1.9 |
| Finance and insurance within financial activities | 25.4 | 15.1 | 6.7 | 1.8 |
| Federal | 21.6 | 9.6 | 3.2 | 1.2 |
| Government | 17.7 | 9.6 | 4.3 | 1.3 |
| State and local government, excluding education within state and local | 17.7 | 9.5 | 4.9 | 1.5 |
| State and local | 17.0 | 9.6 | 4.4 | 1.3 |
| State and local government education within state and local | 16.5 | 9.8 | 4.3 | 1.2 |

Yearly columns add up the twelve monthly rates. The last column is one month, August 2026, seasonally adjusted. Sector rows include the industries listed under them.

## Three industries lose more people to layoffs and discharges than to quits.

In most industries quits are the larger part of turnover, and accommodation and food services is the clearest case, with 50.8 of its 65.3 coming from quits. The exceptions are arts, entertainment, and recreation (45.3 layoffs and discharges against 26.5 quits), construction (25.0 layoffs and discharges against 21.2 quits), and information (15.7 layoffs and discharges against 15.4 quits). BLS counts the end of a seasonal job as a layoff or discharge, so industries with seasonal staffing show more of them.

## Layoffs doubled in 2020, and quits peaked at 33.0 in 2022.

From 2015 to 2019 the US total stayed between 42.4 and 45.0. In 2020 it jumped to 57.0 as layoffs and discharges doubled from 14.4 to 28.8. The Great Resignation looks different: layoffs fell to 11.7 in 2021 while quits climbed to 32.4, then to 33.0 in 2022, the highest of the eleven years. Both have since come back down. Quits were 24.0 in 2025, almost level with 23.8 in 2015, and the 39.7 total is the lowest in the window.

_Figure: Separations per 100 jobs in the US each year from 2015 to 2025. Total separations rise from 42.4 to 57.0 in 2020 and end at 39.7. Layoffs and discharges peak at 28.8 in 2020. Quits peak at 33.0 in 2022 and end at 24.0._

Separations per 100 jobs, sum of the twelve monthly rates. Source: BLS JOLTS, total nonfarm.

## Federal government turnover rose from 12.9 to 21.6 in 2025, the largest one-year jump of any industry.

Most industries moved by a few points in 2025, and the federal government is the exception. Its total separations climbed 8.7 points, quits rose from 6.1 to 9.6, and more than half of the rise sits outside quits and layoffs, in the retirements, transfers and other exits that BLS groups together. At the other end, nondurable goods manufacturing, other services, and real estate and rental and leasing each fell by three points or more.

## Restaurant, retail, healthcare and teacher turnover searches each point to a different JOLTS industry.

BLS publishes turnover by industry, not by job title, so there is no separate rate for servers, nurses or teachers. Each search below is answered with the industry that covers those workers.

### Accommodation and food services ran at 65.3 in 2025, with quits making up 50.8.

This is the BLS industry behind restaurant turnover rate and hospitality turnover rate searches. It covers hotels and other lodging along with restaurants, caterers and bars. The wider leisure and hospitality row, which adds arts, entertainment, and recreation, ran at 66.5. In 2020 accommodation and food services reached 133.6 as layoffs and discharges hit 79.3.

### Retail trade has fallen every year since 2021 and now sits at 45.2.

Retail trade covers stores that sell to the public, from grocery and clothing stores to car dealers. Its total was 64.9 in 2021 and 45.2 in 2025, with quits down from 50.7 to 30.8. It still runs 5.5 above the US average.

### Health care and social assistance runs at 34.5, below the US average of 39.7.

This is the BLS industry behind healthcare turnover rate and nursing turnover rate searches. It covers hospitals, doctors' offices, nursing and residential care, and social assistance such as child day care. Quits were 24.3 of the 34.5 and layoffs and discharges only 8.4. The peak came in 2022 at 40.3.

### State and local government education runs at 16.5, the lowest of any industry.

This is the closest BLS match for teacher turnover rate searches. It counts everyone who works in public schools, colleges and universities, not teachers alone. Quits were 9.8 and layoffs and discharges 4.3. Private educational services, the other education row, ran at 27.3.

_Figure: Four industries against the US average over 2015 to 2025. Accommodation and food services peaked at 133.6 in 2020 and ended at 65.3. Retail trade peaked at 69.8 in 2020 and ended at 45.2. Health care and social assistance peaked at 45.1 in 2020 and ended at 34.5. State and local government education peaked at 25.2 in 2020 and ended at 16.5. The US average ended at 39.7._

One scale for all four, so the gaps are real. The dashed line is the US average. Source: BLS JOLTS.

## Your own rate belongs next to the row for your industry, not next to the national average.

Count every person who left in the last twelve months, divide by your average headcount, and multiply by 100. The [employee turnover rate calculator](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-rate-calculator) does the arithmetic and annualizes a month or a quarter. Then find your industry in the table and compare the same kind of number: total separations if you counted every exit, quits if you counted resignations only.

_Figure: Three steps. Count every exit from the last twelve months. Divide by your average headcount and multiply by 100: 30 exits from an average of 120 people is 25.0%. Then read the row for your industry in the table, for example Health care and social assistance at 34.5._

To see what the gap costs, the [employee turnover cost calculator](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-cost-calculator) turns your rate into dollars a year.

If your rate sits above the row for your industry, the next question is who is likely to leave next. The check below reads the public signs of that for your own team.

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## Every figure comes from the BLS JOLTS files, and the CSV has all of them.

Source: [US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)](https://www.bls.gov/jlt/), national estimates, retrieved October 19, 2026, with data through August 2026.

Yearly figures use the not seasonally adjusted total separations, quits and layoffs and discharges rate series for each industry, added over the twelve months: for total nonfarm, `JTU000000000000000TSR`, `JTU000000000000000QUR` and `JTU000000000000000LDR`. The latest month uses the seasonally adjusted series, such as `JTS000000000000000TSR` for total nonfarm, and BLS marks it preliminary. The [CSV](https://www.teampredict.ai/data/us-turnover-rate-by-industry-2015-2025.csv) holds every industry and every year.

## Frequently asked questions

What is the average employee turnover rate in the US?

In 2025 total separations in the US came to 39.7 per 100 jobs, which is the figure most people mean by the average turnover rate. Quits made up 24.0 of that and layoffs and discharges 13.4. The rate was 42.4 in 2015, peaked at 57.0 in 2020 and has fallen every year since 2022.

Which industry has the highest turnover rate?

Among the nineteen industries that add up to the whole economy, arts, entertainment, and recreation had the highest total separations rate in 2025 at 73.5, followed by accommodation and food services at 65.3 and professional and business services at 55.3. State and local government education had the lowest at 16.5.

What is a good turnover rate?

A good turnover rate is at or below the rate for your industry. A rate that is normal in accommodation and food services (65.3) would be alarming in state and local government education (16.5). Compare the same kind of number, total separations or quits, and watch the direction of your own rate as well as the gap to the table.

Is the BLS rate the same as my company's turnover rate?

It has the same shape: exits divided by employment, times 100. Your company divides by average headcount and the BLS yearly figure here adds twelve monthly rates, which is close enough to compare. BLS counts every exit, retirements and layoffs included, so set it beside your total turnover rather than your resignations alone.

What is the difference between quits and total separations?

Total separations count every person who left a payroll. Quits are only the people who chose to go, so they are the closest match to voluntary turnover, and in 2025 they were 24.0 of the 39.7. Layoffs and discharges, plus a small group of retirements, transfers and deaths, make up the rest.

## Keep reading

[Employee Turnover Rate Calculator Turn your headcount and exits into a monthly, quarterly or annual turnover rate. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-rate-calculator)[Employee Turnover Cost Calculator See what your turnover rate costs in dollars a year and what a few points of it are worth. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-cost-calculator)[What Is Employee Turnover? Types, Formula, and Costs Every type of turnover, the formula with worked examples, and what reduces it. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/what-is-employee-turnover)