The Most (And Least) Stressful Cities In The US

The Most (and Least) Stressful Cities
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Between international terrorism and a struggling economy, today's Americans are faced with more stress than ever. In this new study, America's favorite research gurus at Sperling's BestPlaces have identified the most and least stressful U.S. cities in 2003.

Which U.S. cities provide an environment that can help make our life more relaxed and enjoyable? Are there certain U.S. cities where residents regularly face particularly stressful conditions?

Our "Sperling Stress Index" is comprised of nine different factors that are associated with stress: unemployment rate, divorce rate, commute time, violent and property crime rates, suicide rate, alcohol consumption, self-reported "poor mental health," and number of cloudy days.

Here are this year's most and least stressful cities, chosen from the 100 largest metro areas.

Top 10 Most Stressful Cities
Tacoma, WA
Miami, FL
New Orleans, LA
Las Vegas, NV
New York, NY
Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA
Mobile, AL
Stockton-Lodi, CA
Detroit, MI
Dallas, TX

Top 10 Low-Stress Cities
Albany-Schenectady, NY
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
Orange County, CA
Nassau-Suffolk, NY
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
Ann Arbor, MI
Omaha, NE-IA
Norfolk, VA-Virginia Beach, VA-NC
Honolulu, HI
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

"Most of the top-ten stress cities are grappling with high unemployment," said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling's BestPlaces. "It affects the entire community, whether you have a job or not. Rising unemployment has been tied to increased crime, and declining tax revenues force reductions in social services that affect young and old alike."

Las Vegas has a robust economy, but had the highest percentage of divorced residents and the highest rate of suicides. And despite Miami's #2 stress ranking, they maintained a positive mental attitude, with one of the lowest rates in residents reporting poor mental health.

Among the low-stress cities, there appears a common theme of state capitals and institutions of higher learning. "Government and universities provide a solid economic base to smaller cities, lessening the stress caused by economic cycles," reported Sperling.

"And there's something special about Honolulu. In our studies, it appears that they have a unique attitude that allows them to be less affected by the stresses of today's busy lifestyle."

An interesting footnote to this study was the discovery of a strong correlation between the rates of suicide and divorce.

Top Five Stressful Cities
Tacoma, WA
Tacoma residents contend with one of the highest divorce rates in the country, as well as one of the highest unemployment rates. It's cloudy in Tacoma much of the time, and the suicide and property crime rates are high. On a brighter note, Tacomans can feel safe from bodily harm thanks to the low violent crime rate.

Miami, FL
Miami has the highest violent crime rate in our study, as well as one of the highest property crime rates. Making Miami even more stressful is the long commute time, a high unemployment rate, and a high rate of divorce. Despite these factors, Miami residents manage to maintain a positive mental attitude.

New Orleans
Maybe New Orleans should be nicknamed The Big Un-Easy, due to a high violent crime rate and a high unemployment rate. There's also a good deal of suicides and divorces.

Las Vegas, NV
The turbulent lifestyle of Las Vegas produces some extremely stressful conditions—the highest suicide and divorce rates in our study, as well as a great deal of alcohol use. Unfortunately, the greatest number of sunny days per year doesn't seem to translate to overall happiness—residents of Las Vegas have a great number of days experiencing poor mental health.

New York, NY
Beginning and ending their days with the longest commute in the country, the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple can really stress people out. Unemployment is high and so is violent crime, which may explain why New Yorkers spend many of their days experiencing stress, depression, and problems with emotions. But New Yorkers are not quitters—the suicide rate is one of the lowest.

Top Five Least Stressful Cities
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
These hardworking state capitals and their surrounding areas boast two of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. In fact, both areas score well in many categories—low divorce rates, short average commute times, a low overall crime rate, and low rates of suicide. One downside to these northeastern cities is their often-cloudy skies and dreary winters.

Orange County, CA
Life really goes smoothly in "the O.C."—little crime, low unemployment, and a whole lot of sunshine. The commute can take awhile, but Orange County residents seem to be able to handle it. And their suicide rate is one of the lowest.

Nassau-Suffolk, NY
Although residents of Nassau-Suffolk have a very long commute, the area has the lowest violent and property crime rates in the country. The divorce and suicide rates are also among the lowest in the country, indicating a safe and stable place to live.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
The Twin Cities have a low unemployment rate and a low violent crime rate. Despite many cloudy days, the suicide rate is low and the stress scores are generally favorable across the board.

Methodology
The Sperling Stress Index is based on the most currently available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment rate), Census Bureau (divorce rate and commute time), FBI Uniform Crime Reports (crime statistics), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (suicide rate, alcohol consumption, and poor mental health), and the National Climatic Data Center (cloudy days).

The data was assigned point values to rank each city with others in each category, while preserving the proportionality. The point values for each city were then summed for all categories.