Everyone handles stress differently and different stressors trigger individuals in ways that are different from everyone else, but one thing is for certain: everyone has stress. But how bad is that stress? What causes stress? Are some groups of people, collectively, more stressed than others?
Personal financial website WalletHub recently examined states with the highest stress levels, comparing all 50 states across 41 key metrics, including average hours worked per week to the personal bankruptcy rate to the share of adults getting adequate sleep.
Here’s what they found:
| Most Stressed States | Least Stressed States |
| 1. Nevada | 41. Kansas |
| 2. Louisiana | 42. Montana |
| 3. New Mexico | 43. New Hampshire |
| 4. West Virginia | 44. Nebraska |
| 5. Mississippi | 45. Wisconsin |
| 6. Oklahoma | 46. North Dakota |
| 7. Tennessee | 47. Iowa |
| 8. California | 48. Minnesota |
| 9. Kentucky | 49. Utah |
| 10. Texas | 50. South Dakota |
Georgia ranked No. 17 on the list of most stressed states. Georgia’s work-related stress ranked No. 32, money-related stressed ranked No. 18, family-related stressed ranked No. 13, and health & safety related stress ranked No. 14.
Other notable findings:
- Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate, 4.20 percent, which is three times lower than in Nevada, the highest at 12.80 percent.
- New Hampshire has the lowest share of the population living in poverty, 7.60 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Mississippi, the highest at 20.30 percent.
- Utah has the lowest separation & divorce rate, 15.74 percent, which is 1.7 times lower than in Nevada, the highest at 26.07 percent.
- Vermont has the lowest share of adults in fair or poor health, 12.80 percent, which is 1.9 times lower than in West Virginia, the highest at 24.20 percent.
- Rhode Island has the most psychologists per 100,000 residents, 77, which is 8.6 times more than in Mississippi, the fewest at 9.
For more information on the study or to read about the methodology, click here.
