The 10 Most Stressed States in America Right Now, Ranked
· Vice
At this point, stress feels like one of the few truly bipartisan American experiences. Everybody’s fried, everybody’s behind on something, and half the country seems to be operating on caffeine, ambient dread, and whatever emotional support they can find.
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The American Psychological Association reported that Americans’ biggest stressors lately include the future of the country, the economy, and work. It also found that nearly 70% of adults said they needed more emotional support than they got over the past year. That alone tells you plenty about how badly people are coping.
Now, WalletHub has ranked all 50 states by how stressed out they are. The company looked at 40 indicators across four buckets: work, money, family, and health and safety. That means this wasn’t some silly, self-reported “people in this state seem tense at Trader Joe’s” exercise. It pulled from real numbers tied to poverty, credit scores, crime, sleep, health, divorce, and job security. The result is a map of the country that shows where life feels especially heavy right now.
Louisiana landed at No. 1, which is a title no state tourism board wants. According to WalletHub, Louisiana has the highest poverty rate in the country. Around 16% of residents skipped seeing a doctor in the past year because they couldn’t afford it. It also ranks among the worst states for poor mental health and depression, while sitting dead last in job security. Kentucky followed at No. 2, dragged down by unemployment, bankruptcy, and family strain. New Mexico came in at No. 3, with crime and financial strain.
If you’re wondering who rounded out the top 10, here it is, in order of pure psychic wear and tear…
- Louisiana
- Kentucky
- New Mexico
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
- Nevada
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Mississippi
- Alabama
The 10 Most Stressed States in America
That list tells a pretty clear story. Poverty, weak health care access, bad job security, and high crime rates wear people down over time. Sleep doesn’t help either. WalletHub found Hawaii had the fewest average hours of sleep per night, while West Virginia, Alabama, and Louisiana also landed near the bottom on sleep. On the other end of the ranking, South Dakota came in as the least stressed state, with Utah, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Vermont close behind.
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said, “What many people don’t realize, though, is that changing location can also be a big stress reducer. For example, states that have lower crime rates, better health care, and better economies tend to have much less stressed residents.” Which is true, although ‘just move’ has a certain tone when many of the people living in high-stress states are already getting crushed by the cost of existing.
Still, the ranking makes one thing painfully clear. Stress may feel personal, but a lot of it is baked right into the place you call home.
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