Sure they are stressing out in Florida, what with all that sun, but Seattle?
Sperling’s BestPlaces, a research firm specializing in livability rankings, has released its new study of major cities with the most stress.
Seattle comes in 9th. Florida has five metro areas in the top 10.
“The real surprise here is Seattle,” says Sperling in its press release. “It isn’t a city we normally think of as stressful, but the divorces, suicides and alcohol use are near the 80th percentile for our study, commuting is painful, and crime is surprisingly high.”
Data analyzed for the study included (in order of importance):
- Unemployment rate
- Suicide rate
- Commute time
- Mental health (days per month with poor mental health, from an annual CDC survey)
- Poor rest (days per month without adequate restful sleep, CDC survey)
- Alcohol use (drinks per month, CDC survey)
- Violent crime rate
- Property crime rate
- Cloudy days annually
- Data details
A report from the American Psychological Association states “significant sources of stress include:
- Money (75 percent of survey respondents),
- Work (70 percent),
- Economy (67 percent),
- Relationships (58 percent),
- Family responsibilities (57 percent),
- Family health problems (53 percent),
- Personal health concerns (53 percent),
- Job stability (49 percent),
- Housing costs (49 percent)
- Personal safety (32 percent).”
Notes Sperling, “Suicide is perhaps the last desperate act of a stressful life, and is closely correlated with divorce at a statistical level. In our study, the rates of suicide and divorce had an R-squared correlation value of 0.78, which indicates a very strong association.”
(Video: Get in Shape! Don't Stress it- Advice from Calypso Tumblers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgtUKCv468
Top ten most-stressed out metro areas:
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
- Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
- Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
- Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
- Sacramento--Arden-Arcade—Roseville, Calif.
- Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
- West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla.
