WalletHub, the personal-finance website, has conducted yet another study. This time, it was to determine which states are the most and least stressed within the US.
It is not a secret that there are many different stressors in the world, including work deadlines, relationships, family issues and more. The 50 states were compared across more than 40 indicators of stress in order to determine where to achieve a relaxed lifestyle.
The data set ranged from the average hours worked per week to the personal bankruptcy rate and the share of adults that achieve adequate sleep.
Through this key research, it was discovered that the top five most stressed states were Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, West Virginia and Nevada. On the other hand, the least stressed states were Minnesota, Utah, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Massachusetts.
Not only did Utah have the least average hours worked per week, the state also had the second-least percentage of population that was living in poverty and the lowest divorce rate. In terms of divorce rate, there was a two-time difference between Utah (the least) and New Mexico (the highest).
To determine the most and least stressed states, WalletHub worked to compare the 50 states across four key dimensions, which were work-related stress, money-related stress, family-related stress, and health and safety related stress.