• Posted July 22, 2026

1 In 4 Americans Stuck In Jobs For Health Insurance, Survey Finds

Nearly 1 in 4 American workers say they’re stuck in a job they hate because they need health insurance, a new survey says.

About 24% of employees say they want to quit their job but are staying for the employer-provided health benefits, according to the survey from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America.

The percentage of “job-locked” workers has gone up 8 percentage points since 2021, suggesting that health coverage is becoming a major consideration for career decisions and economic mobility, researchers said.

“That so many Americans feel compelled to stay in jobs they no longer want simply to keep their health insurance underscores how healthcare affordability influences decisions far beyond any immediate or future illness or condition,” said Tim Lash, president of the nonprofit West Health Policy Center.

“No one should have to choose between seeking a better opportunity or maintaining access to health insurance,” Lash said in a news release. “Yet for millions of Americans, the high cost of healthcare has left them facing this exact choice.”

People carrying debt are most vulnerable to “job lock,” researchers found.

Folks saddled with household or personal debt were more than twice as likely to stay in an unwanted job for the insurance, 44% versus 21%, results showed.

Likewise, people who borrowed money in the past year were significantly more likely to be job locked –— 37% versus 22%.

Chronic health problems also led to more people remaining in a job they want to leave, 29% compared to 17% among healthier workers.

More than 40% of people with three or more chronic health problems said they were job-locked. Higher rates also were seen among people with conditions that require ongoing or intensive treatment, like asthma (29%) and immune-compromising illnesses (36%).

Women were more likely to report staying in a job for the insurance than men, 30% versus 20%. They also were more likely to report healthcare-related financial stress (56%), medical debt (22%) and multiple chronic conditions (66%), all factors that contribute to job lock.

And as one might assume, income played a large role in job lock. About 27% of people in households making $48,000 to $89,999 considered themselves stuck due to insurance concerns, versus 16% for those making $180,000 or more.

"Health insurance continues to play an important role in how Americans navigate the labor market,” Joe Daly, a global managing partner at Gallup, said in a news release.

“As job lock has become more common among workers with employer-sponsored coverage since 2021, the findings offer insight into how healthcare benefits may factor into decisions about staying in a job or pursuing other opportunities,” Daly said.

The survey involved 5,660 U.S. adults 18 and older. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

More information

Arizona State University has more on “job lock.”

SOURCE: West Health Institute, news release, July 22, 2026