AMERICA'S MOST STRESSFUL STATE

Some places are more stressful to live in than others. We analyzed the data to discover America’s most stressful state.

Hawaii

Hawaii has been ranked as the most stressful state in the US

The “Aloha state” comes in as one of the worst states for both money and environmental related stress, and ranks as number one overall most stressful.

The research was based on analysis of 22 different factors divided into four key categories that impact stress:

  • Work
  • Money
  • Health
  • Environment

The states received a score out of 10 for each factor, using data taken from public and governmental sources.

The chosen stress factors include:

  • housing and rent prices
  • average income
  • rates of depression
  • physical activity
  • sleep levels
  • access to open spaces
  • noise levels

Top three states

1

Hawaii

Hawaii tops the list after scoring particularly highly for money and environmental stressors. The state’s average house price is $1,293,301, the third highest in the US, while it also has the highest rental prices in America, at $1,327 per month. As a result the state has the 49th worst score for money related stress, which alongside the 48th worst score for environmental factors such as poor highway conditions and being the second loudest state

2

Florida

Florida is the second most stressful state, ranking poorly due to factors such as unemployment rate, with 6.5% of the population registering as unemployed. The state’s comparatively low adjusted gross income, low number of mental health facilities per capita, national parks and open spaces per square mile of land, and noise levels caused Florida’s low ranking.

3

California

California is America’s third most stressful state, with the overall worst score in the environmental category, which measures factors such as highway performance ranking, percentage of trees covering state, total number of national parks, and noise levels. It’s also one of the most stressful states from a financial perspective, which considers property prices, income and debt.

Most stressful state Rankings

Discover how each state ranks for stress overall, and on each of the four key categories they were measured on.

Overall RankStateWork stress
ranking
Money stress
ranking
Health stress
ranking
Environmental stress
ranking
01 Hawaii 16 49 30 48
02 Florida 37 31 41 46
03 California 14 40 24 50
04 New York 12 47 36 43
05 Indiana 43 15 35 45
06 Louisiana 44 29 39 31
07 New Jersey 3 50 16 49
08 Maryland 17 48 19 44
09 Delaware 24 43 20 41
10 Michigan 31 26 46 32
11 Illinois 7 35 34 47
12 Oklahoma 50 11 33 39
13 South Carolina 46 30 47 16
14 Pennsylvania 36 27 28 33
15 Arizona 28 34 17 40
16 Georgia 40 18 45 25
17 Massachusetts 1 42 22 42
18 New Mexico 45 32 32 18
19 North Carolina 49 19 38 23
20 Connecticut 10 44 5 38
21 Texas 39 25 18 29
22 Rhode Island 21 45 23 21
23 Ohio 19 12 40 35
24 Missouri 29 20 44 17
25 Kentucky 41 13 43 15
26 Wisconsin 20 23 12 30
27 Iowa 30 2 21 37
28 Nevada 6 21 26 34
29 Mississippi 33 14 42 13
30 Alaska 18 46 1 36
31 Alabama 34 10 49 5
32 West Virginia 47 8 50 3
33 New Hampshire 38 38 8 6
34 Washington 2 37 11 28
35 Virginia 8 41 25 10
36 Kansas 32 9 29 19
37 Colorado 11 33 7 27
38 Utah 35 24 9 14
39 Idaho 48 16 13 7
40 Minnesota 9 22 14 24
41 Tennessee 23 3 48 9
42 Oregon 5 36 31 8
43 North Dakota 26 5 37 12
44 Wyoming 42 6 10 11
45 South Dakota 25 7 15 20
46 Arkansas 15 4 27 22
47 Montana 27 17 4 4
48 Nebraska 13 1 6 26
49 Maine 22 28 3 1
50 Vermont 4 39 2 2
Overall RankStateWork stress
ranking
Money stress
ranking
Health stress
ranking
Environmental stress
ranking
50 Vermont 4 39 2 2
49 Maine 22 28 3 1
48 Nebraska 13 1 6 26
47 Montana 27 17 4 4
46 Arkansas 15 4 27 22
45 South Dakota 25 7 15 20
44 Wyoming 42 6 10 11
43 North Dakota 26 5 37 12
42 Oregon 5 36 31 8
41 Tennessee 23 3 48 9
40 Minnesota 9 22 14 24
39 Idaho 48 16 13 7
38 Utah 35 24 9 14
37 Colorado 11 33 7 27
36 Kansas 32 9 29 19
35 Virginia 8 41 25 10
34 Washington 2 37 11 28
33 New Hampshire 38 38 8 6
32 West Virginia 47 8 50 3
31 Alabama 34 10 49 5
30 Alaska 18 46 1 36
29 Mississippi 33 14 42 13
28 Nevada 6 21 26 34
27 Iowa 30 2 21 37
26 Wisconsin 20 23 12 30
25 Kentucky 41 13 43 15
24 Missouri 29 20 44 17
23 Ohio 19 12 40 35
22 Rhode Island 21 45 23 21
21 Texas 39 25 18 29
20 Connecticut 10 44 5 38
19 North Carolina 49 19 38 23
18 New Mexico 45 32 32 18
17 Massachusetts 1 42 22 42
16 Georgia 40 18 45 25
15 Arizona 28 34 17 40
14 Pennsylvania 36 27 28 33
13 South Carolina 46 30 47 16
12 Oklahoma 50 11 33 39
11 Illinois 7 35 34 47
10 Michigan 31 26 46 32
09 Delaware 24 43 20 41
08 Maryland 17 48 19 44
07 New Jersey 3 50 16 49
06 Louisiana 44 29 39 31
05 Indiana 43 15 35 45
04 New York 12 47 36 43
03 California 14 40 24 50
02 Florida 37 31 41 46
01 Hawaii 16 49 30 48

Stress in the US

The study rated Vermont as the least stressful state

Vermont has reported the lowest level of registered poverty per capita, greatly reducing the state’s money related stresses.

The state also has the second best ratio of mental health treatment facilities per capita, and is one of the top area for physical activity and adequate sleep, leading to the state ranking second in the health related stress sub-category.

Maine ranked as the least stressful state for environmental related stress. The state boasts the fourth best highway system in America, as well as the highest percentage of tree coverage, at 89.5% of the state. Maine is ranked the second least stressful state, ranking in the top half of the least stressful conditions for work related stress, and third in the least stressful conditions for health related stress.

Nebraska is the least stressful state when related to money, which helps make it the third least stressful overall. The state has the second lowest debt per capita, as well as relatively low house listing prices and monthly rent – $328,872 average house price and monthly rental price of $726.

Research Methodology

The research is based on analysis of 22 separate data points, combined to form an overall ranking of all 50 states
  • Four subcategories were established relating to stress: Money, Health, Work, and Environmental.
    • Money factors: average house pricing, listing price per residential square meter, rent per house square meter, adjusted gross income, average weekly income, monthly rent, registered poverty per capita, and debt per capita.
    • Health factors: number of mental health treatment facilities, depression rate, physical inactivity rate, time to travel to work, and insufficient sleep rate.
    • Work factors: employment rate, average weekly working hours, minimum wage, average dollar per hour, and unemployment rate.
    • Environmental factors: highway performance ranking, percentage of trees covering state, total number of national parks and open spaces per square mile, quietest state ranking.
  • 10-point scale was used to calculate rankings for each factor, with best score receiving 10 points, and the following states scored relative to the top state.
  • Total scores for each factor added and rankings established for sub-categories with the highest number least stressed.
  • Total scores for all sub-categories combined to reveal total stress rankings, higher the score = less stressed.

Sources

Disclaimer: This article and research is for informational purposes and should not replace advice from your doctor or other medical professional.

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