These are the states where the most (and least) stressed people live
Bet you didn’t know April was Stress Awareness Month?
A 2017 survey of 2,000 American workers found that the majority of workers are stressed on any given workday. Over 70% of respondents ranked their stress at “Level 3” or higher (on a scale of 1–5), and more than 60% said that they felt stressed three or more workdays per week, on average.
Clearly, certain industries can produce more stressed out workers than others, but are there certain states that are home to the most stressed out people? Personal finance site WalletHub ranked which states had the most stressed-out people by looking at factors from hours worked per week to personal bankruptcy rate to share of adults getting adequate sleep.
So which states have the least and most stressed people?
The 10 most-stressed states
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- West Virginia
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
The 10 least-stressed states
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Utah
- Iowa
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Colorado
- Massachusetts
- Hawaii
- Nebraska
The rankings analyzed four main areas: Work-related stress, money-related stress, family-related stress, and health and safety-related stress. No states on the East Coast made the Top 10 on the most-stressed list, so perhaps New Yorkers aren’t the workaholics we think they are or they’ve just figured out how to handle their stress.
It seems that the further South you go, the more stress you will experience. However, if you are looking to have little stress in your life, head to Minnesota as this was the least stressed state in the whole country.
Perhaps it is all the cows and farmland or that is a booming place for tech jobs. The Twin Cities added 3,300 technology jobs last year and is the 14th-largest tech employment region in the U.S., according to the Computing Technology Industry Association. Colorado and Utah, which also made it into this least stressed pack, have also seen a lot of growth in the tech sector and as a result, low unemployment rates.
Somewhat surprisingly, California didn’t make the least-stressed list despite WalletHub recently ranking eight of its cities as the happiest places for people to live in America.
Sleepy states fared well
Four of the states that were considered least-stressed (North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Colorado) also reported the most hours of sleep per night, once again proving that more sleep equals a happier and more productive worker.
Other findings from the study included:
- Hawaii has the lowest unemployment rate (2.4%), three times lower than in Alaska (highest at 7.2%)
- New Hampshire has the lowest share of the population living below the poverty line (8.5%), two-and-a-half times lower than Mississippi (highest at 22.3%)
- Utah has the lowest separation and divorce rate (16.18%), which is almost two times lower than the District of Columbia (highest at 28.63%)
- Utah has the lowest share of adults in fair or poor health, 11.98%, which is two times lower than Arkansas (highest at 24.44%)
- The District of Columbia has the most psychologists per 100,000 residents (97), which is almost seven times more than Alabama (fewest at 14)
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The states where the most (and least) stressed people live was originally published on Ladders, a publication dedicated to breaking news, opinion, analysis, and career advice at the cutting edge of our changing workplace. Sign up for our daily newsletter here.
