Survey: Here Are The Most and Least Stressed States in 2020
Even before the coronavirus struck, Americans in many states were dealing with stress.
The personal finance website WalletHub, which conducted a survey to rank states based on the stress levels of their residents, found that the most stressed state in the nation was Louisiana, and that the least stressed state was Minnesota.
Mississippi and New Mexico were the runners-up in the high-stress category, while North Dakota and South Dakota came in second and third, respectively, among the low-stress states.
WalletHub was able to rank states by compiling data related to various areas of stress, from average hours worked per week to personal bankruptcy rate to the share of adults getting adequate sleep.
“Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of stress,” WalletHub reported. “We then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.”
Along the way, the survey found that Alaska led the nation in hours worked, while Utah was at the bottom with the least hours worked per week.
Hawaii scored a double whammy, being labeled the state where people get the fewest hours of sleep per night and have the least job security.
Minnesota ranked at the top of the sleepy time list, while Arizona was on top for the greatest job security.
Mississippi ranked at the top of two dubious categories. It was rated the state where residents had the lowest average credit score and the state with the highest percentage of residents living in poverty.
Minnesotans had the highest average credit score, according to the survey, and New Hampshire had the lowest percentage of people living in poverty.
The survey also asked several experts about how to fight stress.
Kirsten E. Bradbury, an assistant professor of instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, suggested that dealing with financial stress is about more than money.
“Most financial stress isn’t about not having enough money, in that the definition of ‘enough’ turns out to be wildly subjective,” she said.
“I’ve seen people at all income levels living with high financial stress, and I’ve seen some very unstressed people with meager budgets. For most people, financial stress can be largely eliminated with improved money management — which often requires improved self-regulation (perhaps the harder of the two tasks).”
“[M]any people live much closer to the financial edge than they need to and could dial down their financial stress by making more conservative spending decisions, controlling spending with planning and budgeting, and getting on the same page about spending and financial goals with the people with whom you share a financial life,” Bradbury said.
Christal L. Badour, an assistant professor with the Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky, offered some tips for fighting stress.
“Reassess your core values: Core values are the principles that give our life meaning and should guide us in setting priorities and determining how we spend our time,” she said.
“However, the stressors of everyday life and keeping up with the expectations of how you feel you “should” be living can lead you to spend all your time engaging in activities that are not in line with your core values.”
Badour said a little more sleep would help as well.
“Sleep can have a dramatic impact on stress, anxiety, and depression,” she said, adding that setting a routine and keeping electronics out of the bedroom are two ways to get more sleep.
“Take a break from smartphones and social media,” she also said.
“If you are not ready to commit to a full break, try limiting checking your email or phone for an hour before bed. Consider setting up a charging station in your home where everyone’s phones go when they get home from work/school. This should be in an out-of-the-way place where you won’t be tempted to constantly check it.”
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