The most stressed-out states in America

Biggest source of stress: Work 

One of the biggest factors in WalletHub’s understanding of work stress was the length of the workweek, and by its calculations Texans had the second-most hours worked per week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says they’re clocked in for 35 hours a week, an hour longer than the national average.

Biggest source of stress: Health & Safety 

WalletHub looked at factors like chronic disease and insurance coverage rates. A December study from the e-bike company Velotric found that two Oklahoma counties were among the 25 “unhealthiest” in the country, with variables like obesity, alcohol use, smoking, and physical inactivity factored into the ranking.

Biggest source of stress: Money

Kentucky is one of the poorest states in the country, with a median household income that ranks in the bottom five.

Biggest source of stress: Money

Alabamians make even less than Kentuckians.

Biggest source of stress: Health & Safety

A Forbes Advisor study earlier this year ranked West Virginia as the single unhealthiest state in the nation, looking at factors like short life expectancy and the prevalence of diseases like cancer.

Biggest source of stress: Health & Safety

The same Forbes Advisory study had Arkansas pegged at the fourth-unhealthiest state.

Biggest source of stress: Family

Two of the biggest factors under the umbrella of WalletHub’s “family” stresses included struggles finding childcare and caregivers who had to quit their jobs due a lack of childcare. New Mexico routinely ranked near the bottom of state rankings for “child wellbeing,” which is part of the reason behind a successful push to make early childhood education a constitutional right in 2022.

Biggest source of stress: Family

WalletHub more explicitly broke out its top-three most-stressed states. For Nevada, the study noted that “the state has the highest share of parents who had to change or quit their jobs due to problems with child care, and the second-highest share of parents who did not receive emotional support with parenting in the past year.”

Biggest source of stress: Money

Here, WalletHub pointed to Mississippi’s “lowest job security in the country, the highest poverty rate, and the lowest median credit score” as reasons behind why finances top residents’ worries.

Biggest sources of stress: Work, Health & Safety

Louisiana was tied for third in both the “work” and “health and safety” rankings.

🦺 Louisiana is one of the least-unionized states in the country. Since union members tend to make more than non-unionized workers, that might be part of the reason why WalletHub pointed out that its residents “has the second-highest poverty rate in the country, and residents have the second-lowest median credit score.”

🚑 WalletHub said that “Louisiana is the most stressed state, in large part because it has one of the highest violent crime rates per capita and property crime rates per capita.”