The top 10 most stressful cities of the 100 largest metropolitan areas are:

1. Tacoma, Washington
2. Miami, Florida
3. New Orleans, Louisiana
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. New York, New York
6. Portland, Oregon-Vancouver, Washington
7. Mobile, Alabama
8. Stockton-Lodi, California
9. Detroit, Michigan
10. Dallas, Texas


The No. 1 stressor for most of the top 10 cities is a high unemployment rate. "It affects the entire community, whether you have a job or not," said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling's BestPlaces, when he announced the survey results. "Rising unemployment has been tied to increased crime, and declining tax revenues force reductions in social services that affect young and old alike."

There were exceptions to this. While the Las Vegas economy is booming and unemployment is low, the city has the highest percentage of divorced residents and the highest rate of suicides.

The top 10 cities with the lowest stress are:

1. Albany-Schenectady, New York
2. Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pennsylvania
3. Orange County, California
4. Nassau-Suffolk, New York
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
6. Ann Arbor, Michigan
7. Omaha, Nebraska
8. Norfolk, Virginia-Virginia Beach, Virginia
9. Honolulu, Hawaii
10. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Interestingly, most of the cities recognized for low stress are state capitals and areas with colleges and universities. "Government and universities provide a solid economic base to smaller cities, lessening the stress caused by economic cycles," explained Sperling.


I live near the #2 (PA)region, but south of it! And a favorite region of mine is #8 (VA).

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 02:03 pm:

#3 here..................

By Ladypeacek on Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 02:19 pm:

I had to laugh at norfolk in VA being low stress! I lived 5 minutes from there my whole life and the crime is unbelieveable! Yes there is a university but not a very safe one!!! I got stressed just driving through there!!!!

By Mommyof4 on Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 02:40 pm:

I am near #7...dh and I were watching the local news the other evening and the lead story was about allergies and was an interview with a man who was constantly blowing his nose and wiping his eyes the entire time since his allergies are so bad.....that was the biggest news here for that day.