Here’s what causes Florida so much stress

ORLANDO, Fla. – On Monday, WalletHub released its ranking for the most stressed states nationwide.

The study examines which factors* are causing people in different states to stress out the most, looking at categories like work, money, family and safety to determine which states are struggling the most.

“What many people don’t realize, though, is that changing location can also be a big stress reducer,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “For example, states that have lower crime rates, better health care and better economies tend to have much less stressed residents.”

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Nationwide, the most-stressed state turned out to be Louisiana, followed by Kentucky (No. 2) and New Mexico (No. 3).

“Louisiana ranks as the most stressed state, in large part because it has the highest poverty rate in the country. Around 16% of residents haven’t seen a doctor in the past year due to the cost. In addition, Louisiana ranks among the 10 worst states for both the share of adults reporting poor mental health and the share of adults diagnosed with depression. Residents may also find it difficult to find someone to address mental health issues, since Louisiana has fewer psychologists per capita than most other states.

Lastly, the Bayou State had the eighth-highest average unemployment rate in the country last year, and it has the lowest job security than all states."

WalletHub, "Most & Least Stressed States"

On the other end of the spectrum, South Dakota was the least stressed state, followed by Utah (No. 49) and Minnesota (No. 48).

But what about Florida?

Well, the study reveals that the Sunshine State sits relatively high at No. 20, though it wasn’t work, health or safety concerns that were the biggest source of stress.

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Instead, researchers determined that Florida suffered in particular from “family-related stress.”

Meanwhile, the full ranking is below:

*The methodology is as follows:

• Work-Related Stress
  • Average hours worked per week
  • Average commute time
  • Average leisure time spent per day
  • Job security
  • Unemployment rate
  • Underemployment rate
  • Income growth rate
• Money-Related Stress
  • Median Income
  • Debt per median earnings
  • Median credit score
  • Personal bankruptcy rate
  • Share of adults with financial anxiety
  • Economic security score
  • Share of people unable to save for children’s college
  • Share of adults paying only minimum on credit cards
  • Share of population living below poverty
  • Housing affordability
• Family-Related Stress
  • Separation and divorce rate
  • Share of single parents
  • Cost of childcare
  • “Parental-leave policy” score
  • Parental stress
  • Share of parents without emotional support
  • Share of parents who changed/quit jobs due to problems with childcare
• Health- and Safety-Related Stress
  • Share of adults in fair or poor health
  • Share of adults diagnosed with depression
  • Mental health
  • Suicide rate
  • Unaffordability of doctor visits
  • Share of parents frustrated in efforts to get health services for their child
  • Increase in annual health insurance premiums
  • Share of insured population
  • Psychologists per capita
  • Physical activity rate
  • Share of adults getting adequate sleep
  • Bullying incidents rate
  • Crime rate per capita
  • Hate-crime incidents per capita
  • Well-being index
  • Quality of infrastructure