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The Most Stressed Out City in Every State<br>
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By Thomas C. Frohlich January 21, 2016 5:22 pm EST<br>
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<b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/jjmswja">http://tinyurl.com/jjmswja</a></b> <br>
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<p>Money is the single largest cause of stress in the United
States, the richest country in the world. And while the economy
is still recovering from the Great Recession, with aggregate
income on the rise, many Americans face increasing debt burdens,
stagnant wages, and rising poverty levels.</p>
<p>According to the American Psychological Association (APA),
stress levels of Americans are trending downward. However, just
as income gaps have been growing, so has the gap between people
who seem to manage stress well and those who do not.</p>
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<p>In its latest annual review of stress in America, the APA
identifies money and work as the two largest sources of stress
of Americans, followed by the economy, family responsibilities,
and personal health concerns. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a range of
data in these categories in order to measure the likelihood of
living in stress in each state’s urban areas.</p>
<p><span style="color:#008000;"><strong><a
href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/01/21/the-most-stressed-out-city-in-every-state/2/"
style="color:#008000;">Click here to see the most stressed
out city in every state.</a></strong></span></p>
<p>The variation in stress levels do not vary much across the U.S.
According to Lynn Bufka, psychologist at the APA, this could be
due to the relatively high level and overall prevalence of
stress. “People are going to experience stress no matter what,”
she said</p>
<p>The underlying causes of stress do vary considerably between
regions, however. The lack of variation of reported stress
levels across the nation could therefore be due to the variety
of coping strategies for dealing with stress, as well as the
differences in how stress affects different demographics. Bufka
added that for many people, a certain level of stress can
actually be necessary to follow through on stated intentions and
accomplish work.</p>
<p>Yet, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to manage stress. The
APA has found that poor individuals are more likely to engage in
unhealthy behaviors to manage their stress. Nearly
three-quarters of Americans surveyed report feeling stressed
about money at least sometimes, and nearly one-quarter report
money concerns as causing stress on a regular basis.</p>
<p>Metropolitan areas are often some of the most expensive places
to live in a state, and the most stressed areas tend to be less
affordable. The affordability ratio calculates how much
homeowners spend on their homes as a share of their total income
— the higher the ratio, the less affordable the area. In all but
four metro areas on this list, the affordability ratio is higher
than the statewide ratio. Also, poverty in these areas is higher
than it is in urban areas nationwide.</p>
<p>Americans tend to work longer hours than residents of other
countries and the United States is the only developed country
where paid time off is not guaranteed. Perhaps it is no surprise
that work is the next most common source of stress after
finances. Bufka explained that “cognitive ability to process new
and challenging situations and analyze them realistically” are
closely tied with stress levels. The resources and time
available to accomplish something within a work group also
dictate stress levels, Bufka added.</p>
<p>The typical American works approximately 35 hours per week. In
the most stressed out cities in 34 states, the average weekly
hours spent at work exceeds this amount.</p>
<p>High stress levels have tangible health consequences. First,
unhealthy reactions to stress such as overeating can result in
higher obesity rates, and in turn, worse health outcomes. In 29
of the 50 stressed out cities on this list, obesity rates are
higher than the respective state figures.</p>
<p>A growing body of research is also connecting stress directly
with premature death, depression, and lower productivity in the
workplace. “Feeling stressed and overwhelmed diminishes our
mental resources, diminishes our capacity to be flexible
mentally, diminishes our ability to sort of generate new ideas,
all of which we might need to think about how to manage our
sources of stress,” Bufka said.</p>
<p>To identify the most stressed city in every state, 24/7 Wall
St. created an index of data measuring the two most common
sources of stress — money and work — in each state’s
metropolitan areas. To capture money-related stress inputs we
reviewed poverty rates, housing affordability, and food
insecurity. For work-related stress inputs we included average
weekly work hours, average daily commute times in hours, and
annual unemployment rates. With the exception of food insecurity
and unemployment rates, which came from the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), respectively, all data used in the index came
from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey
(ACS). The incidence of violent crime in each area comes from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2014 Uniform Crime Report.
All data are for the most recent periods available. While the
potential consequences of stress were not considered in our
index, they were reviewed in each state’s MSAs.</p>
<p>These are each state’s most stressed-out city.</p>
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<p><img scale="2"
src-orig="https://247wallst.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/coeur-dalene-idaho-e1453395985975.jpg?w=400&h=225"
originalh="225" originalw="400" class="alignnone"
src="cid:part2.00080500.00070501@frontier.com" alt="Coeur
d'Alene, Idaho" data-credit="Wikimedia Commons" data-caption=""
height="225" width="400"></p>
<p><strong>12. Idaho<br>
> Most stressed city:</strong> Coeur d’Alene<br>
<strong>> Total population:</strong> 147,326<br>
<strong>> Poverty rate:</strong> 12.0%<br>
<strong>> Avg. weekly hours worked:</strong> 33.6<br>
<strong>> Unemployment rate:</strong> 5.6%<br>
<strong>> Violent crime rate:</strong> 276.1 per 100,000 people<br>
<strong>> Pct. of adults in fair/poor health:</strong> 12.7%<br>
</p>
<p><img scale="2"
src-orig="https://247wallst.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/spokane-washington-e1453403568631.jpg?w=400&h=225"
originalh="225" originalw="400" class="alignnone"
src="cid:part3.05090503.07040908@frontier.com" alt="Spokane,
Washington" data-credit="Thinkstock" data-caption=""
height="225" width="400"></p>
<p><strong>47. Washington<br>
> Most stressed city:</strong> Spokane-Spokane Valley<br>
<strong>> Total population:</strong> 542,073<br>
<strong>> Poverty rate:</strong> 16.9%<br>
<strong>> Avg. weekly hours worked:</strong> 34.0<br>
<strong>> Unemployment rate:</strong> 7.4%<br>
<strong>> Violent crime rate:</strong> 318.6 per 100,000 people<br>
<strong>> Pct. of adults in fair/poor health:</strong> 14.3%<br>
</p>
<p><br>
Ken<br>
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