Go looking for your industry's turnover benchmark and you will find four different numbers in about five minutes. One source says 10%. Another says 25%. A third quotes a monthly figure right next to an annual one and never mentions the difference.
So which one is right?
All of them, in a way. They are just counting different things.
Every number in this article comes from one place, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), and every rate is measured the same way. Below you will find where your industry actually sits, how much of its turnover is people choosing to leave versus being let go, and how to turn that comparison into a decision. For the wider picture on causes and costs, start with our complete guide to employee turnover
One thing to know before the numbers: BLS reports turnover as a monthly rate, so the figures here look smaller than the annual rates most of us picture. About 3.3% of employees leave in a typical month. Across a year, that works out to roughly 40%.
First, some context on where the national picture stands. The chart below tracks the quit rate, the share of employees who leave voluntarily in a given month.
U.S. quit rate, monthly, January 2021 to June 2026. Source: BLS JOLTS, series JTSQUR, seasonally adjusted.
Quitting peaked at 3.0% a month in late 2021 and spring 2022, the stretch that became known as the Great Resignation. It fell for three straight years after that, and since early 2025 it has held steady between 1.9% and 2.0%, where it sat again in June 2026. Fewer people are choosing to leave than at almost any point in five years, which makes right now a good time to look hard at your own numbers.
TL;DR
The problem: There is no agreed-upon turnover benchmark. Sources count different things, mix monthly and annual rates, and rarely say which, so most comparisons are not really comparisons.
The fix: Use one source and one definition, then compare inside your industry. Everything here is BLS, shown as an average monthly rate.
The number to remember: In a typical month, about 2.0% of U.S. employees quit and about 1.1% are laid off. Most turnover is people choosing to go.
What most benchmarks hide: That split flips in a few industries. In construction and in arts, entertainment, and recreation, more people are let go than leave on their own, which is a completely different problem to solve.
What to do with it: Treat your benchmark as the first question, not the answer. The useful work is figuring out which roles and which kind of exit are driving your gap.
Why turnover benchmarks vary by source
Before you compare your rate to anything, it helps to know what the benchmark is actually counting. The most-cited turnover figures come from three kinds of sources, and they measure different events. That is the whole reason the numbers look irreconcilable.
The three main data sources, and what each measures
Government survey data (BLS JOLTS). Counts every separation from U.S. employers: quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations such as retirements and transfers. Because it counts everything, its totals run higher than any quit-only figure. It is the most comprehensive U.S. source, and it is what this article uses.
Professional network data (LinkedIn Talent). Infers voluntary departures from people updating their profiles with a new employer. Useful for tracking where knowledge workers move, but it is global rather than U.S.-only and it skews toward desk jobs. Treat it as a quit signal, not a full turnover rate.
HR platform data (vendor benchmarking reports). Reflects only the companies using that particular software. Real data from real employers, but not a random sample of the economy, and usually reported as a monthly rate rather than an annual one.
The practical rule is to compare like to like. If you track every separation, compare against total-separation data. If you only track resignations, compare against quit data. Mixing the two is the single most common reason a benchmark comparison misleads.
Monthly vs. annual rates, and how to convert
Some sources publish monthly rates and others publish annual ones, which makes the same labor market look wildly different depending on where you land. A 2.0% monthly rate is not low; multiply it across the year and it approaches 24%. When you hit a monthly figure, multiply by roughly 12 for a rough annual equivalent before comparing it to anything else. For the exact method, see how to calculate your turnover rate
Employee turnover rate benchmarks by industry
Here is where each industry landed in 2025, the most recent complete year of BLS data. The monthly column is the sourced BLS figure. The annual column multiplies it by twelve, so the number reads the way most teams actually talk about turnover.
Arts, entertainment & recreation
6.1%
~73%
High
Accommodation & food services
5.5%
~66%
High
Professional & business services
4.6%
~55%
High
Construction
4.0%
~48%
High
Transportation, warehousing & utilities
4.0%
~48%
High
Retail trade
3.8%
~46%
Average
Health care & social assistance
2.9%
~35%
Average
Information
2.8%
~34%
Average
Manufacturing
2.4%
~29%
Low
Finance & insurance
2.1%
~25%
Low
Government
1.5%
~18%
Low
All industries
3.3%
~40%
Baseline
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS, 2025 annual averages (Table 20, total separations), not seasonally adjusted. The monthly rate is the sourced BLS figure. Annual figures multiply the monthly rate by twelve and slightly overstate true annual turnover, because one position can turn over more than once a year. Benchmark rating is relative to the 3.3% all-industry monthly average: High is 4.0% and above, Average is 2.5% to 3.9%, Low is below 2.5%.
Industries with the highest turnover
Four industries sit well above the 3.3% all-industry average, and the reasons are not the same:
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, about 73% a year (6.1% monthly). The highest here, and most of it is employer-initiated. This category covers a lot of work that is built to start and stop: productions wrap, sports and festival seasons end, and parks, venues, and gyms staff up and down with demand.
Accommodation and food services, about 66% a year (5.5% monthly). Close to the opposite pattern. Most of this is people quitting rather than being let go. The reasons usually given are entry-level pay bands, physically hard work, irregular hours, and how easy it is to take a similar job down the street.
Construction and transportation, warehousing, and utilities, both about 48% a year (4.0% monthly). Both carry above-average layoff rates, which fits project-based and seasonal staffing.
Retail trade, about 46% a year (3.8% monthly). Mostly voluntary, with layoffs sitting right at the national average.
Industries with the lowest turnover
Government came in lowest of the industries here at about 18% a year (1.5% monthly), followed by finance and insurance at about 25% (2.1% monthly) and manufacturing at about 29% (2.4% monthly). Worth knowing: inside government, state and local government and state and local education both run lower still at 1.4%, so the combined figure understates how stable parts of the public sector are.
But low turnover is not automatically a win. When almost nobody leaves, promotion paths back up and teams can go years without new perspectives. The better question is not whether your rate is low, but who is leaving.
Employee turnover rate benchmarks by industry
If your industry runs hot, that usually says more about how the work is structured than about how you are managing it. Four patterns explain most of the spread:
Pay ceilings and physical demands. Common in accommodation, food service, and construction. Where wage growth is capped and the work is hard on the body, people move more often and it costs them very little to do it.
Contract and project-based work. Professional and business services includes staffing and temporary help, where assignments are designed to end. That is one likely reason it carries both a high quit rate (2.3%) and one of the highest layoff rates (2.0%), though the BLS data alone cannot confirm how much traces to that. Either way, the aggregate number is especially misleading here. See voluntary vs. involuntary turnover
Emotional labor and burnout. Health care is really several labor markets at once. A hospital administrator, a registered nurse, and a home health aide face different pay, different pressures, and different alternatives, so one blended rate hides more than it shows. See the real cost of employee turnover
Stability and mission. Government and education sit at the bottom of the range. Job security, pensions, and mission-driven work are the usual explanations, and they fit the numbers, though the survey itself does not ask people why they stay.
Voluntary vs. involuntary turnover, the split that matters
Almost every benchmark gives you one number. That is the least useful version of the data, and separating it is the most valuable thing this article can hand you.
BLS tracks the two halves separately, which is exactly why it is worth using. Across the economy in 2025, quits averaged 2.0% a month against layoffs and discharges of 1.1%. So people left voluntarily at nearly twice the rate they were let go. That ratio does not hold everywhere, though.
Quits (voluntary) vs. layoffs and discharges (involuntary), 2025 average monthly rate. Source: BLS JOLTS, Tables 22 and 24.
As you can see in the chart above, two industries break the pattern. In construction, layoffs and discharges (2.1%) run higher than quits (1.8%). In arts, entertainment, and recreation the gap is wider still, 3.8% against 2.2%. Both fit seasonal and project-based staffing rather than people walking away. Information is the one industry where the two run exactly level, at 1.3% each.
What the split tells you
The two halves usually call for different responses. Voluntary exits are the ones most open to influence, through retention, development, and manager quality. Involuntary exits point more toward workforce planning and hiring accuracy. Roll them into one number and it is easy to pull the wrong lever.
Picture two organizations sitting the same distance above their industry benchmark. One is losing people who chose to leave. The other is letting people go. Same gap on the dashboard. Almost nothing about the response would be the same.
Things to focus on:
Track quits and layoffs as two separate numbers, not one blended rate.
Break both down by department, role, and seniority before drawing conclusions.
Compare each half to your industry rather than to the national average.
Watch the trend across quarters. One month tells you very little.
Where the most preventable turnover sits
Preventability is less about having the highest quit rate and more about how far quits outrun layoffs, because that gap is roughly the share of turnover that came down to someone's decision rather than yours.
Accommodation and food services leads on both counts, with quits at 4.2% against layoffs of 1.1%, close to four to one. Health care and social assistance shows the same shape at a lower level, 2.0% against 0.7%. Retail trade runs 2.6% against 1.1%. Professional and business services is the mixed case: a high quit rate at 2.3%, but a layoff rate of 2.0%, one of the highest here, so a real share of that turnover will not respond to retention work at all.
Turnover by role, why the industry average can mislead you
An industry benchmark is a starting point, not a conclusion. Inside any industry, turnover varies a lot by role and level. If your workforce leans toward one of the higher-churn roles, the industry average will make your situation look better than it is.
Health care is the clearest example. A hospital administrator and a registered nurse work in genuinely different labor markets, so a single health care turnover rate blends two very different realities. The same goes for hourly staff versus store managers in retail, or individual contributors versus senior leaders in technology roles.
So before you decide what to do, find out which roles are actually driving your number.
How to turn your benchmark into a diagnosis
A benchmark on its own is just a score. These four steps turn it into something you can act on.
On step 3, exit and stay interviews are usually the fastest way to get an honest answer about what is driving the gap. See exit interviews
How Wonderlic helps you reduce employee turnover
Wherever your diagnosis lands, it usually points to one of two things: who you are hiring, or how you are developing the people already on the team. Which one matters more depends on what your numbers say, not on what industry you are in.
When the losses cluster early, in the first few months or the first year, fit is worth examining first. The role may have asked for a pace, a working style, or a kind of motivation that was never really there, and onboarding alone rarely closes that gap.
Wonderlic Select
You already know which roles keep turning over. Before the next offer goes out, Wonderlic Select shows you whether a candidate genuinely fits the pace, the demands, and the motivation the role requires, so you can stop early exits before they start.
When people leave later, after two or three years, the driver is more often growth. Employees who cannot see a path forward with you will eventually find one somewhere else.
Wonderlic Develop
Your best people stay when they can see what is next for them here. Wonderlic Develop gives each employee and their manager a clear picture of strengths and next steps, so the growth conversation happens with you instead of with a recruiter.
Most organizations find their turnover is not one problem, and the two work together. Better-fitting hires tend to develop faster, and stronger development keeps good hires longer. Wonderlic supports that full talent lifecycle, from selection through development, whatever industry you are in.
Start with the benchmark, do not stop there
Most organizations treat the benchmark comparison as the finish line. It works better as the starting line. Knowing you sit above your industry average tells you something is worth looking into. Knowing whether that gap is voluntary or involuntary, spread evenly or concentrated in a few roles, is what actually points you toward a fix.
The organizations that move their numbers are rarely the ones that found a friendlier benchmark. They are the ones that asked better questions about the number they already had. For the full framework, including retention strategies that hold up, see our complete guide to employee turnover
Frequently asked questions
What is the average employee turnover rate by industry?
It varies widely. In the most recent full year of BLS data, total turnover ranged from about 1.5% of employees per month in government (roughly 18% a year) up to 5.5% per month in accommodation and food services (about 66%) and 6.1% in arts, entertainment, and recreation (about 73%). The all-industry average is about 3.3% per month, roughly 40% a year. Before comparing any figure to your own, check whether it counts only quits or all separations, and whether it is monthly or annual.
What is a good employee turnover rate?
There is no universal answer, because a rate only means something inside your industry. The same number can be a good result in hospitality and a warning sign in government. More useful than any single figure: compare within your industry using one consistent source, separate voluntary from involuntary, and watch your trend over time rather than reacting to one snapshot.
Which industry has the highest employee turnover rate?
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, at about 6.1% of employees per month, roughly 73% a year. Most of that is involuntary, which fits a category built around seasonal and project-based work. Accommodation and food services follows at 5.5%, where the pattern reverses and most of the turnover is people choosing to leave.
Which industry has the lowest employee turnover rate?
Of the industries in this article, government is lowest at about 1.5% per month, roughly 18% a year, followed by finance and insurance at 2.1% and manufacturing at 2.4%. Within government, state and local government and state and local education run lower still, at 1.4%.
Why is hospitality employee turnover so high?
Most of it is voluntary. Quits in accommodation and food services run about 4.2% a month against layoffs of 1.1%. The reasons usually given are limited wage growth, physically demanding work, irregular hours, and how easy it is to move to a similar job elsewhere. Seasonal demand adds to it.
How does voluntary turnover differ from involuntary turnover by industry?
Voluntary turnover means quits, where the employee initiates the exit. Involuntary means layoffs and discharges, initiated by the employer. BLS tracks them separately. Across the economy quits run about 2.0% a month against 1.1% for layoffs, but the balance shifts by industry, and in construction and in arts, entertainment, and recreation involuntary exits actually exceed voluntary ones.
How do I use industry turnover benchmarks to improve retention?
Work out your own rate consistently, tracking voluntary and involuntary separately. Compare within your industry rather than to a national average. If you are running above it, look at which roles and seniority levels are driving the gap and which type of exit is behind it. That tells you whether you are looking at a hiring question, a management question, or a development question.
Data sources
Every figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Re-verified against the primary tables on August 4, 2026, including the June 2026 release published that morning.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS: Table 20 (total separations), Table 22 (quits), Table 24 (layoffs and discharges), annual average rates by industry, 2025, not seasonally adjusted. bls.gov/jlt
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS national quit rate (series JTSQUR), monthly, seasonally adjusted, January 2021 through June 2026. bls.gov
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