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Study reveals most, least stressed states in US

April 7, 2017116 comments
by StudyFinds

WASHINGTON — Having high levels of stress is known to take a toll on the brain and the body, leading people to sleep less, feel worse, and struggle on the job. But does where you live factor in to the level of stress you feel? The free credit score website WalletHub.com released its list of the Most and Least Stressed States, giving Americans a glimpse at how their home address could be affecting them.

The study found that Alabama was the most-stressed state in the country, followed by Louisiana and Mississippi. In fact, eight states from the South made the top 10 for most-stressed states.

Minnesota was the least-stressed state, followed by North Dakota and Iowa.

Man feeling stressed out
Stress seems to be prevalent in America’s southern states, according to WalletHub’s annual study.

The list was compiled by expert analysts who evaluated all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in four areas of potential stressors: Work-Related Stress; Money-Related Stress; Family-Related Stress; Health- & Safety-Related Stress.

Each category was graded by various weighted metrics — 33 in total — that accounted for 25 points per category.

For example, Work-related Stress metrics included how many average hours residents work per week, their average commute time, their job security, and the state’s unemployment weight.

Money-related Stress included median income, median credit score, and housing affordability. Family-related Stress included divorce rate and cost of childcare. Health- & Safety-related Stress included adults diagnosed with depression, suicide rate, and crime rate.

Total scores were then calculated for each state and ranked in comparison to one another.

WalletHub’s list of Most & Least Stressed States:

Overall Rank State Total Score ‘Work-Related Stress’ Rank ‘Money-Related Stress’ Rank ‘Family-Related Stress’ Rank ‘Health- & Safety-Related Stress’ Rank
1 Alabama 56.91 5 2 5 6
2 Louisiana 56.22 2 9 10 5
3 Mississippi 55.62 18 1 4 7
4 West Virginia 55.43 4 11 24 1
5 Kentucky 54.39 7 7 16 4
6 New Mexico 53.76 3 8 7 19
7 Nevada 52.74 6 20 2 21
8 Georgia 52.10 9 13 3 14
9 Tennessee 51.93 26 5 18 8
10 Arkansas 51.17 44 3 22 2
11 South Carolina 50.46 25 12 13 12
12 Alaska 49.67 1 42 27 13
13 Florida 49.60 16 16 6 22
14 Arizona 48.17 19 18 11 25
15 Oklahoma 47.63 37 28 14 3
16 North Carolina 47.26 14 22 15 30
17 Ohio 45.69 32 26 20 15
18 District of Columbia 45.64 35 14 1 50
19 Indiana 45.64 42 27 19 10
20 Missouri 45.33 38 24 23 11
21 Oregon 45.28 36 4 45 16
22 Michigan 45.19 33 30 21 9
23 California 45.08 10 10 41 42
24 Texas 45.07 17 39 8 20
25 New York 45.06 21 17 33 27
26 Rhode Island 44.85 30 23 31 18
27 Maine 44.09 28 19 46 17
28 Pennsylvania 43.63 22 31 25 24
29 Delaware 42.59 29 37 12 32
30 Virginia 42.14 8 48 17 39
31 Idaho 42.02 46 21 37 26
32 Illinois 41.89 11 35 32 37
33 Maryland 41.55 20 41 9 44
34 Washington 41.53 24 32 34 28
35 Montana 41.33 49 15 44 23
36 Hawaii 40.99 31 6 47 49
37 Massachusetts 40.42 27 34 28 41
38 Wyoming 39.82 13 51 30 29
39 Connecticut 39.52 15 43 38 33
40 Kansas 39.45 23 38 35 40
41 New Jersey 39.32 12 45 39 36
42 Wisconsin 38.41 41 36 36 34
43 Colorado 37.28 47 33 26 45
44 Vermont 36.27 39 25 50 47
45 New Hampshire 35.83 48 47 29 35
46 Nebraska 35.51 40 40 43 43
47 Utah 34.71 50 44 42 31
48 South Dakota 34.41 51 29 49 48
49 Iowa 33.66 45 46 40 46
50 North Dakota 33.16 43 49 51 38
51 Minnesota 31.07 34 50 48 51

WalletHub’s study included a panel of experts who answered questions on how to help Americans relieve financial stress and offered ways for parents especially to bring more calm into the household.

To read the study, click here.

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