Detroit Is America’s Most Stressed-Out City: Study

DETROIT, MI — Detroit is the most stressed city in America, according to a new study that takes into consideration, among other factors, the amount of time Americans spend commuting, the number of one-parent households, and jobless, crime, poverty and divorce rates.

In order to identify where Americans cope with stress better than others, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 150 largest cities across 27 key metrics. The data set ranges from average work hours to debt load to divorce and suicide rates.

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Here are the 10 most stressed-out cities:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Mobile, AL
3. Birmingham, AL
4. Memphis, TN
5. Cleveland, OH
6. Shreveport, LA
7. Columbus, OH
8. New Orleans, LA
9. Newark, NJ
10. Montgomery, AL

So, what’s the least stressed city? Fremont, CA. Life is also carefree in Irvine, CA; Honolulu, HI; Madison, WI; San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Plano, TX; Overland Park, KS; Sioux Falls, SD; and San Diego, CA.

Here are some of the key findings:

• Greensboro, NC, has the lowest commuter stress index, 1.11, which is nearly 1.5 times lower than in Los Angeles, the city with the highest, 1.62.
• Lincoln, NE, has the lowest unemployment rate, 2.5 percent, which is about five times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest, 12.4 percent.
• Overland Park has the lowest poverty rate, 6 percent, which is nearly seven times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest, 39.8 percent.
• Fremont, CA, has the lowest divorce rate, 12.24 percent, which is about three times lower than in Cleveland, the city with the highest, 41.29 percent.
• Seattle, WA, has the lowest percentage of single parents, 9.54 percent, which is about four times lower than in Newark, NJ, the city with the highest, 37.79 percent.
• Minneapolis, MN, has the lowest percentage of adults in fair or poor health, 10.77 percent, which is about two times lower than in Mobile, AL, the city with the highest, 25.71 percent.
• Irvine, CA, has the lowest number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 0.49, which is more than 40 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest, 19.89.
• Fresno, CA, has the most psychologists per 100,000 residents, 80.1, which is about 22 times more than in Baton Rouge, LA, the city with the fewest, 3.7.

To figure the index, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 150 most populated cities across five key dimensions: work-related stress, money-related stress, family-related stress, health- and safety-related stress, and coping with stress.

For the full report, go here. For more on the methodology, go here.

Image credit: Bryan Debus via Flickr / Creative Commons