More than a quarter of U.S. adults say that most days, they are so stressed out it’s hard to function, according to the American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” poll.
While some stress is normal and can actually be good for you, once stress reaches a chronic level it can cause health problems like insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And residents of some states seem to be more stressed than others.
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Wellness brand, Komowa, created a ranking of the most and least stressed states in America. The company compared U.S. states based on 16 key indicators of stress including hours worked, credit card debt, divorce rates, commute times and more.
Key indicators were grouped by similarities and boiled down to four main categories:
- Money stress
- Work stress
- Health stress
- Family stress
To create the ranking, Komowa used data from the CDC, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and more.
Surprisingly, New York and California didn’t make the top 10 on the list. In fact, New York landed the 24th spot and California came in at No. 25.
States were also ranked by individual categories including the highest credit card debt and the longest commute time.
New York earned the top spot for the longest commute time with an average of 33.2 minutes, but actually didn’t land at No. 1 for the most hours worked. Residents of Louisiana seem to work the most with an average of 44.3 hours a week.
Alaska earned the top spot for the highest credit card debt with an average of $7,338, and Wisconsin had the lowest credit card debt average of $4,808.
The state with the most stressed residents in America: Tennessee
At No. 1 for the overall list of the most stressed states in the U.S. is Tennessee, according to Komowa.
The Volunteer State scored very high for the most health stress, coming in third place for the highest level of depression prevalence (24.4%).
15.5% of residents also said “their physical health isn’t good for more than 14 days a month.”
Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
Kruck20 | Istock | Getty Images
Residents of Tennessee also work more than the average American. The state came in at No. 3 for most hours worked with an average of 42.3 hours a week.
Tennessee also scored pretty low when it came to residents’ yearly income and ability to work from home. Residents also had one of the longest average commute times.
The top 10 most-stressed states in America
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- South Carolina
- Georgia
- Arizona
- West Virginia
- Indiana
Alabama ranked at No. 2, largely due to work stress and health stress. Residents of the Heart of Dixie worked more hours than most Americans, earned a lot less and had one of the highest divorce rates.
Coming in at No. 3 is Oklahoma with the top spot for health stress which can be directly linked to the percentage of residents without healthcare. The level of depression prevalence is high for residents of the state as well.
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