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News

America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia



Lani Rosales | 2010/09/08  | 33 Comments

stressed Americas most stressful cities and other city triviaPortfolio.com studied America’s 50 largest metropolitain areas to rank them for how stressful each one is. They studied housing costs, unemployment, income growth, poverty, sunshine, unhealthy air, robberies, murders, deaths from circulatory-system diseases and commuting.

Given that stress is a major killer and according to a CBS Evening News fifth annual Labor Day survey, more than half of Americans are somewhat or extremely stressed at work. Also, a shocking one in six workers reported being “angry enough to hit a co-worker.”

Each city has different stressors and not surprisingly, Detroit is deemed the most stressful city and suffers from the highest unemployment rate of the 50 cities (whereas Washington had the lowest unemployment rate).

Top 15 least stressful cities:

These are the 15 least stressful cities in order from least stressful to more stressful.

  1. Salt Lake City
  2. Virginia Beach
  3. Minneapolis
  4. Raleigh
  5. Austin
  6. Oklahoma City
  7. Denver
  8. San Antonio
  9. Kansas City
  10. Phoenix
  11. Portland
  12. Boston
  13. San Jose
  14. Louisville
  15. Jacksonville
  16. Richmond

The 15 most stressful cities:

These are the 15 most stressful cities in order from most stressful to less stressful.

  1. Detroit
  2. Los Angeles
  3. Cleveland
  4. Riverside
  5. St. Louis
  6. New York City
  7. New Orleans
  8. Chicago
  9. Birmingham
  10. Miami
  11. Memphis
  12. Philadelphia
  13. Atlanta
  14. Cincinnati
  15. Washington

Factoids about city rankings:

  • Buffalo was deemed to have the most affordable housing while Los Angeles has the least.
  • Las Vegas had the highest drop of income per capita at 6.17%. On the opposite end was Virginia Beach which had the only uptick in income per capita, having risen 0.95%.
  • Memphis had the highest percentage of families living below the poverty level at 13.9%. With 4.7% of families living below poverty, Washington ranked best in this category.
  • Regarding deaths from circulatory system diseases per 100,000 residents, New Orleans has the most (414) while Austin has the least (134).
  • Phoenix and Las Vegas were tied for the sunniest cities with 85% of the year experiencing sunshine while Pittsburgh was the least sunny with only 45% of days.
  • Ozone levels were the highest in Sacramento and lowest in San Francisco.
  • Cleveland had the highest number of robberies per capita and Virginia Beach had the lowest.
  • New Orleans had the highest murder rates while Salt Lake City had the lowest.
  • The longest commute goes to New York City with 34.55 minutes while Buffalo had the shortest commute at only 20.78 minutes.

Is your city anywhere on these lists? AG is headquartered in Austin and we were surprised that we ranked for having the least cardiac related deaths. Very interesting. What struck you as the most surprising? Tell us in comments.


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This article published on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 11:08 pm | Contact the editor

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About this Columnist (Full Profile)

AGBeat Editor-in-Chief: Lani, named one of Real Estate’s 100 Most Influential, as well as 12 Most Influential Women in Real Estate, is a business writer hailing from the great state of Texas in the city of Austin. As a digital native, Lani is immersed not only in advanced technologies and new media, but is also a stats nerd often burried in piles of reports. Lani is a proven leader, thoughtful speaker, and vested partner at AGBeat.

Email Lani Rosales



Comments (33)

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  1. Ariana Barbour:

    Sweet- SA's #8! RT @ laniar woah, does your city rank in the most or least stressful in america? http://bit.ly/cgivTT
  2. Matt Wilkins:

    @tinainvirginia something you can use to advertise your hone away from home http://bit.ly/cgivTT
  3. RealEstate Babble:

    AgentGenius: America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia http://bit.ly/cIKpI3 Full http://bit.ly/aHUfJm
  4. James Schleicher:

    Hell yeah RT @laniar: woah, does your city rank in the most or least stressful in america? http://bit.ly/cgivTT
  5. Real Estate Feeds:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia: Portfolio.com studied America’s 50 largest metropolitain … http://bit.ly/aPN8sp
  6. John Peltier:

    RT @laniar: woah, does your city rank in the most or least stressful in america? http://bit.ly/cgivTT
  7. Kayla L. McKinney:

    @Schlik1 Phoenix is on the Least Stressful City list. Apparently a white person wrote this article. [http://bit.ly/cgivTT]
  8. Real Estate Ninja:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia http://bit.ly/afmd34
  9. kristin terry:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia: Portfolio.com studied America’s 50 largest metropolitain … http://bit.ly/afmd34
  10. Thad Schell:

    Real Estate News: America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia http://bit.ly/bSgr2n
  11. cd:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia http://bit.ly/afmd34
  12. Tyler Webb:

    RT @agentgenius: Sweet- SA's #8! RT laniar woah, does your city rank in the most or least stressful in america? http://bit.ly/afmd34
  13. hrrealestate:

    RT @agentgenius: Sweet- virginia beach ranked as one of the "least stressful" places to live! http://bit.ly/afmd34
  14. Donna Cahan:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia
    http://bit.ly/ai7T6u
  15. InteliTouch:

    RT @dcahan: America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia
    http://bit.ly/ai7T6u
  16. Bryan Tobiason:

    Good news for those of us in Kansas City, it's one of the least stressful cities… see the full list here http://bit.ly/9gTS5q
  17. Natasha Hall:

    America's most stressful cities and other city trivia – Portfolio.com studied America's 50 largest metropolitain ar… http://ow.ly/18WnU3
  18. DotLoop:

    America's Most Stressful Cities:… http://fb.me/zzkQVv1T
  19. chaz2b:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia #2 Least Stressful #VaBeach ;) http://ff.im/-quJoF
  20. BHG Real Estate:

    Are you in one of the Top 15 Most Stressful Cities in the U.S.? Find out here: http://ow.ly/2CiIA (via @agentgenius)
  21. CBC Metro Brokers:

    Yes, we are! RT @BHGRealEstate: Are you in one of the Top 15 Most Stressful Cities in the U.S.? Find out here: http://ow.ly/2CiIA
  22. Metro Brokers:

    Yes, we are! RT @BHGRealEstate: Are you in one of the Top 15 Most Stressful Cities in the U.S.? Find out here: http://ow.ly/2CiIA
  23. Century 21:

    America’s most stressful cities – and other city trivia @AgentGenius http://c21.in/alfrds
  24. Ladd Keith:

    Top 15 Most & Least Stressful Cities (#Phoenix made 10th least stressful, #Tucson no where to be seen) http://ow.ly/2CngF
  25. Mary Pekas:

    Hm. Disagree! RT @LaddKeith Top 15 Most/Least Stressful Cities (#Phoenix 10th least stressful, #Tucson not listed) http://ow.ly/2CngF
  26. Market Leader:

    Do you live in one of America's MOST stressful cities? http://fb.me/IX2j5iV3
  27. Marita Rahlenbeck:

    http://ow.ly/2Cz0k Do you live in a city on one of these two lists? Least/most stressful cities. I live in Minneapolis – 3rd less…
  28. Century 21 Advisors:

    Is city among the most stressful in the country? Find out here… http://ow.ly/2EfB3
  1. Sheila Rasak says:
    2010/09/09 at 12:53 am

    I’m so glad I moved from Los Angeles 2 years ago! I never looked back ;-)

    Reply
  2. Jamey Prezzi says:
    2010/09/09 at 7:42 am

    Miami on the stressful side? hmmm, maybe for driving and the expense of living here… but other than that I don’t know how that is?

    Jamey

    Reply
  3. tina merritt says:
    2010/09/09 at 10:22 am

    stressful is as stressful does…i found myself incredibly stressed living in virginia beach – so i moved. bridges and tunnels stress me i suppose….

    Reply
  4. April says:
    2010/09/09 at 6:46 pm

    I lived in L.A. off & on for 7 years. The parking? Ha! Anyone who’s lived there knows what a nightmare that is!

    Honestly, I want out of So Cal. I’m a CA Native & as I get older, I find it to be insane. Waaaay too expensive here. If you want to live here…unless you bring in @ LEAST a nice 6-figure income, you’ll need about 4 roommates! ;-0 Not fun.

    I ‘m looking to move to Europe. Either Italy or Barcelona. Their lifestyle is so much more relaxing, FUN, there are happy ppl there! They aren’t in a hurry TO GO NOWHERE like here. They TALK TO ONE ANOTHER. GEE! WHAT A CONCEPT!

    :-)

    Reply
  5. John says:
    2010/09/14 at 8:43 pm

    I live about 30 miles north of Miami and driving in South Florida can drive you nuts. But at least the weather is great!

    Reply

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