Doctors call it the “silent killer.” Every year, an estimated 120,000 people die from stress-related ailments like stroke and heart disease. The tension is brought on by a number of factors: work, family problems, money woes. But how about your city? To what end could the town you live in be contributing to your ill health?
Some cities are just more stressful than others. And thanks to WalletHub we have an inkling of which ones are doing the most damage. On Tuesday, it put out its list of the most and least stressed cities in 2017. And it tells us quite a bit.
The rankings are based on a number of key factors that are sure to get your heart racing like poverty and unemployment, a tough job, and worries about your personal safety. Even the number of adult smokers in a given city were taken in to account.
So which city is most likely to make you pull your hair out? That would be Newark, New Jersey, followed by Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; and Jackson, Mississippi. San Bernardino is the seventh most stressful city in America, according to the list.
Despite heavy traffic and crazy housing prices, California seems to be doing pretty well at keeping calm. It must be all the yoga… and wine. In fact, Fremont, California is officially the least stressed out city in America, according to WalletHub. It ranked 150 out of 150 on the stressful cities list. San Jose, Huntington Beach, and Santa Rosa also look pretty relaxed overall.
For full methodology and rankings, view the full report here. But first, take a deep breath and count to four.