The 10 Most—and 10 Least—Stressed-Out States in America

When your car breaks down, your card gets declined, and your alarm fails to go off all in one week, it probably seems like your own state of stress has nothing to do with the state you happen to live in. But some states do tend to have more stressed populations than others.

To find out which ones, WalletHub analyzed 41 factors across four different types of stress—work, money, family, and health and safety—and scored each state’s collective stress level on a scale of 100. The findings don’t exactly jibe with the idea that life is slow-moving and easy-going down South: Nearly all 10 of the most-stressed states are in the South or Southwest, including Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

Louisiana came in first with just over 57 points, ranking third for work-related stress (which covers things like average hours worked per week and unemployment rate) and second for money-related stress (think income, credit score, and housing affordability).

Residents in Alaska, which clinched the 10th spot with about 49 points, don’t seem to have much money-, family-, or health-related stress; the state landed at 46th, 36th, and 23rd for those three categories, respectively. Their work stress, on the other hand, is higher than any other state, largely due to low job security and long hours.

If you’re looking to move somewhere mellow, your best bet is the upper Midwest. Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa are the four least-stressed states in the land. Minnesota, whose stress score is less than 28, has some of the lowest poverty and divorce rates, some of the highest credit scores, and an abundance of psychologists per capita. But you don’t have to resign yourself to living in a cold climate if you want to settle down somewhere calm—Hawaii ranked seventh, and temperate Maryland rounded out the top 10.

Take a look below to see if your state is especially harried or not, and see the full list of scores here.

Most-Stressed States

1. Louisiana // 57.30

1. Mississippi // 56.20

1. New Mexico // 52.68

1. Arkansas // 52.00

1. West Virginia // 51.96

1. Nevada // 51.03

1. Kentucky // 50.59

1. Alabama // 50.30

1. Oklahoma // 50.13

1. Alaska // 49.23

Least-Stressed States

1. Minnesota // 27.62

1. North Dakota // 30.17

1. South Dakota // 30.55

1. Iowa // 31.38

1. Utah // 31.92

1. New Hampshire // 32.01

1. Hawaii // 33.73

1. Colorado // 35.46

1. Wisconsin // 35.49

1. Maryland // 35.76