This Is the Most Stressed City in America

Cleveland tops WalletHub's list, while Vermont's South Burlington chillaxes in last place
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 11, 2023 10:30 AM CDT
Here Are the Most Stressed-Out Cities in America
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Tero Vesalainen)

Between work, family issues, money, and life's other usual trials and tribulations, trying to tamp down on stress can seem a fruitless task. There may be some areas of the country, however, where you can surround yourself with a calmer, more carefree populace. WalletHub examined the 182 largest US cities, factoring in more than three dozen metrics in four main categories: work stress, including job security and satisfaction, the unemployment rate, and commute times; financial stress (think median household incomes, poverty and bankruptcy rates, and debt levels); family stress, which looks at separation and divorce rates, the cost of child care, and the like; and health and safety stress (ie, the share of adults in fair or poor health, the suicide rate, and the community well-being index). Cleveland is our nation's most-stressed city, while South Burlington, Vermont, is where you should go to chill out. Here, the top and bottom 10 cities:

Most Stressed

  1. Cleveland (No. 1 in "Financial Stress" category)
  2. Detroit (No. 1 in "Health & Safety Stress" category)
  3. Baltimore
  4. Birmingham, Alabama
  5. Philadelphia
  6. Shreveport, Louisiana
  7. Memphis, Tennessee
  8. Fayetteville, North Carolina
  9. St. Louis, Missouri
  10. Augusta, Georgia

Least Stressed
  1. Nashua, New Hampshire
  2. Rapid City, South Dakota
  3. Bismarck, North Dakota
  4. Burlington, Vermont
  5. Lincoln, Nebraska
  6. Fargo, North Dakota
  7. Overland Park, Kansas
  8. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  9. Fremont, California (last in "Health & Safety Stress" category)
  10. South Burlington, Vermont (last in "Financial Stress," "Family Stress" categories)

See how other cities fared here. (Check out America's happiest cities.)

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