[Vision2020] The Most Stressed-Out City in Every State

[Kenneth Marcy]

The Most Stressed Out City in Every State

By Thomas C. Frohlich    January 21, 2016 5:22 pm EST

*http://tinyurl.com/jjmswja*

Money is the single largest cause of stress in the United States, the 
richest country in the world. And while the economy is still recovering 
from the Great Recession, with aggregate income on the rise, many 
Americans face increasing debt burdens, stagnant wages, and rising 
poverty levels.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), stress levels 
of Americans are trending downward. However, just as income gaps have 
been growing, so has the gap between people who seem to manage stress 
well and those who do not.

In its latest annual review of stress in America, the APA identifies 
money and work as the two largest sources of stress of Americans, 
followed by the economy, family responsibilities, and personal health 
concerns. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a range of data in these categories in 
order to measure the likelihood of living in stress in each state’s 
urban areas.

*Click here to see the most stressed out city in every state. 
<http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/01/21/the-most-stressed-out-city-in-every-state/2/>*

The variation in stress levels do not vary much across the U.S. 
According to Lynn Bufka, psychologist at the APA, this could be due to 
the relatively high level and overall prevalence of stress. “People are 
going to experience stress no matter what,” she said

The underlying causes of stress do vary considerably between regions, 
however. The lack of variation of reported stress levels across the 
nation could therefore be due to the variety of coping strategies for 
dealing with stress, as well as the differences in how stress affects 
different demographics. Bufka added that for many people, a certain 
level of stress can actually be necessary to follow through on stated 
intentions and accomplish work.

Yet, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to manage stress. The APA has 
found that poor individuals are more likely to engage in unhealthy 
behaviors to manage their stress. Nearly three-quarters of Americans 
surveyed report feeling stressed about money at least sometimes, and 
nearly one-quarter report money concerns as causing stress on a regular 
basis.

Metropolitan areas are often some of the most expensive places to live 
in a state, and the most stressed areas tend to be less affordable. The 
affordability ratio calculates how much homeowners spend on their homes 
as a share of their total income — the higher the ratio, the less 
affordable the area. In all but four metro areas on this list, the 
affordability ratio is higher than the statewide ratio. Also, poverty in 
these areas is higher than it is in urban areas nationwide.

Americans tend to work longer hours than residents of other countries 
and the United States is the only developed country where paid time off 
is not guaranteed. Perhaps it is no surprise that work is the next most 
common source of stress after finances. Bufka explained that “cognitive 
ability to process new and challenging situations and analyze them 
realistically” are closely tied with stress levels. The resources and 
time available to accomplish something within a work group also dictate 
stress levels, Bufka added.

The typical American works approximately 35 hours per week. In the most 
stressed out cities in 34 states, the average weekly hours spent at work 
exceeds this amount.

High stress levels have tangible health consequences. First, unhealthy 
reactions to stress such as overeating can result in higher obesity 
rates, and in turn, worse health outcomes. In 29 of the 50 stressed out 
cities on this list, obesity rates are higher than the respective state 
figures.

A growing body of research is also connecting stress directly with 
premature death, depression, and lower productivity in the workplace. 
“Feeling stressed and overwhelmed diminishes our mental resources, 
diminishes our capacity to be flexible mentally, diminishes our ability 
to sort of generate new ideas, all of which we might need to think about 
how to manage our sources of stress,” Bufka said.

To identify the most stressed city in every state, 24/7 Wall St. created 
an index of data measuring the two most common sources of stress — money 
and work — in each state’s metropolitan areas. To capture money-related 
stress inputs we reviewed poverty rates, housing affordability, and food 
insecurity. For work-related stress inputs we included average weekly 
work hours, average daily commute times in hours, and annual 
unemployment rates. With the exception of food insecurity and 
unemployment rates, which came from the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 
respectively, all data used in the index came from the U.S. Census 
Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey (ACS). The incidence of violent 
crime in each area comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2014 
Uniform Crime Report. All data are for the most recent periods 
available. While the potential consequences of stress were not 
considered in our index, they were reviewed in each state’s MSAs.

These are each state’s most stressed-out city.


Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

*12. Idaho
 > Most stressed city:* Coeur d’Alene
*> Total population:* 147,326
*> Poverty rate:* 12.0%
*> Avg. weekly hours worked:* 33.6
*> Unemployment rate:* 5.6%
*> Violent crime rate:* 276.1 per 100,000 people
*> Pct. of adults in fair/poor health:* 12.7%

Spokane, Washington

*47. Washington
 > Most stressed city:* Spokane-Spokane Valley
*> Total population:* 542,073
*> Poverty rate:* 16.9%
*> Avg. weekly hours worked:* 34.0
*> Unemployment rate:* 7.4%
*> Violent crime rate:* 318.6 per 100,000 people
*> Pct. of adults in fair/poor health:* 14.3%


Ken

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20160122/50c8069f/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: coeur-dalene-idaho-e1453395985975.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 83818 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20160122/50c8069f/coeur-dalene-idaho-e1453395985975-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: spokane-washington-e1453403568631.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 130291 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20160122/50c8069f/spokane-washington-e1453403568631-0001.jpg>