In the U.S., the top five sources of stress for Americans include work, money, health issues, relationships and diet, according to 2014 data from the American Psychological Association.
Where you live can affect how much the stresses of daily life impact you. For instance, if you live in a city with a high cost of living or a work culture that encourages long hours, will you be subject to more stresses related to money and your job?
Yes, according to WalletHub, which recently ranked 150 U.S. cities by how stressful daily life is in each. The personal finance website included housing affordability and average number of hours worked per week when ranking cities, but also looked at other factors, including crime rates, average commute times and health statistics.
Larger cities and those near major metropolitan areas tended to fall higher on the stressed-out index. Regionally, the more densely populated eastern half of the nation has more stressed-out cities, though California also boasts its fair share.
Workers in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Anchorage, Alaska, tied for logging the most hours weekly, while those in Providence, Rhode Island and Tallahassee, Florida, have the shortest workweeks.
WalletHub’s 10 most-stressed cities:
1. Newark, New Jersey
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Jackson, Mississippi
5. Miami
6. Birmingham, Alabama
7. San Bernardino, California
8. Rochester, New York
9. Augusta, Georgia
10. Shreveport, Louisiana
According to WalletHub, these are the 10 least-stressed cities:
150. Fremont, California
149. Plano, Texas
148. Overland Park, Kansas
147. Scottsdale, Arizona
146. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
145. Irvine, California
144. Gilbert, Arizona
143. Peoria, Arizona
142. Madison, Wisconsin
141. Boise, Idaho
You can see the full study and read about the methodology at WalletHub. Also worth checking out, if you haven’t seen them:
Best and worst states for doctors in 2017: See how your state stacks up—A WalletHub analysis considers physicians’ salary, competition, and CME requirements to rank “best” and “worst” states.
Stressed out? Medscape says you should move to one of these states—When Medscape ranked the 2017 best and worst states for doctors, they focused on factors likely to alleviate—and cause—burnout.
1 comment
Are these statistics adjusted to factor in high populations of retired people? I would be interested to how the results changed if the number of hours pursuing leisure activities like hiking and kayaking were included.