Stress is part of life and experts say a little bit can keep us alert and on our toes. But you may also be familiar with the dark side of stress, the chronic levels of tension and anxiety that can erode your health and happiness and grow your wrinkles.
Certainly the body and brain can quickly burn out when put under pressure for too long in a culture that prizes 24/7 digital engagement. That’s part of the reason the World Health Organization has called stress “the health epidemic of the 21st Century.”
Ever wonder if some places are just less nerve wracking to live in than others? WalletHub compared 182 cities across 39 key metrics to find out where people are the least stressed out. They crunched the numbers on factors such as average weekly work hours, debt load, financial stress, family issues, sleep habits and divorce and suicide rates. And it turns out that Fremont ranks as the least stressed spot in the country.
Famed for Mission Peak and Charlie Chaplin’s early days, this East Bay town got first place with a stress rating of 29.19 out of 100 possible points. Apparently many people in the city have low levels of financial, family and health and safety stress. Fremont also fared well in terms of high median credit score and low poverty rates.
Also on the mellow side of the roster is San Jose. The capital of Silicon Valley got ranked as the tenth least stressed city in the nation. Despite its status as a hard-charging tech hub, San Jose has a total stress score of only 33.23.
Both Fremont and San Jose also had low divorce rates. That may well have helped make up for the maddening traffic snarls and outrageous housing prices that mark both cities. Despite some elements of stress in their lives, people in both cities are coping well with the issues they face, this report suggests.
For the record, San Francisco and Oakland were solidly in the middle of the pack in terms of tension. The two Bay Area cities were ranked in #107 and #108 place, respectively.
As for the single most stressed out city in the country, that dubious distinction goes to Detroit. The motor city got dinged for low median credit scores, high poverty rates, high divorce rates and lowest average hours of sleep per night.
