VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — If it feels like people are more stressed and anxious lately, it’s because they are.
According to the American Psychological Association, 76% of adults in the U.S. say they’ve experienced health effects because of stress in the last month.
But where you live may have a greater effect on stress than you think.
Botanicals company Charlotte’s Web wanted to know if certain cities were “more stressed” than others, so they conducted a study using eight sets of data from the top 100 most populous U.S. cities.
The company judged cities' stress levels using data like the percentage of people in poverty, people without health insurance, crime rate, unemployment rate, travel time to work, rent-to-income ratio, fitness, and cost of living.
The most stressed cities?
Memphis, Tennessee came in third partly because of its staggering crime rate. New York City came in second with its infamously high cost of living.
Detroit, Michigan is considered the most stressed city in America with a poverty rate that is off the charts.
When it comes to the least stressed cities in America, two Hampton Roads cities made the list.
Virginia Beach is considered one of the least stressed cities in the country, coming in fourth on the ‘least stressed’ side.
Some of the featured categories include low crime, poverty, and employment rates, despite Virginia Beach’s cost of living being almost 11% above average.
The only cities topping Virginia Beach are Madison, Wisconsin in third, Gilbert, Arizona in second, and the least stressed city in America - Boise, Idaho.