Feeling down? You're not alone. Why Tennessee ranked as the No. 1 most stressed state in U.S.
Feeling super-stressed? You're not alone. And if a recent study from wellness brand Komowa is any indication, more of your fellow Tennesseans are feeling stress than residents of any other state in the U.S.
Komowa created a ranking of the most and least stressed states in America, using 16 key indicators of stress including hours worked, credit card debt, divorce rates, commute times and more.
Key indicators were grouped by similarities and boiled down to four main categories of stress: money, work, health and family. To create the ranking, Komowa used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tennessee ranked the No. 1 most stressed state in the U.S.
The Volunteer State ranked first due to its cumulative score, although it did not rank as No. 1 in any of the categories. Residents of Tennessee work more than the average American, for example; the state came in at No. 3 for most hours worked, with an average of 42.3 hours a week.
Tennessee also scored pretty low when it came to residents’ yearly income (No. 9) and ability to work from home. Residents also had one of the longest average commute times.
Tennesseans also scored very high for the most health stress, coming in third place for the highest level of depression prevalence (24.4%).
More than 15% of residents said “their physical health isn’t good for more than 14 days a month.”
Five of top 10 most-stressed states are in the South
Tennessee
Alabama
Oklahoma
Louisiana
Nevada
South Carolina
Georgia
Arizona
West Virginia
Indiana
Head to North Dakota for the least stressful life
Some of these rankings might surprise you. New York and California didn’t make the top 10 on the list. In fact, New York landed the 24th spot and California came in at No. 25.
Least stressed state in the U.S.? North Dakota, at least according to these metrics, followed by Utah and Iowa. Hawaii, which some might consider a low-key place with happy vibes, came in at No. 32 on the stressed list.
New York earned the top spot for the longest commute time with an average of 33.2 minutes, but didn’t land at No. 1 for the most hours worked. Residents of Louisiana seem to work the most with an average of 44.3 hours a week.
Alaska earned the top spot for the highest credit card debt with an average of $7,338, and Wisconsin had the lowest credit card debt average of $4,808.
Liz Kellar is a Tennessee Connect reporter. Email liz.kellar@knoxnews.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee ranked as most stressed state in U.S.
