Study Finds Austin is the Fourth Least Stressed Large City in the Country

Posted by James Brinkman on Saturday, February 4th, 2012 at 4:20pm.

A recent study released by Portfolio.com found that Austin residents are the fourth least stressed out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country. According to the researchers, Austin residents enjoy a low level of stress primarily due to the relatively low unemployment rates coupled with the good health of the city’s residents.

When determining the overall level of stress within each city, the researchers considered a number of different factors. These included:

•    Crime rates
•    Environmental factors
•    Health risks
•    Living standards
•    Local unemployment rates
•    Personal financial data

On the other end of the spectrum, the researchers found that Detroit residents were the most stressed. This was largely due to the city’s significant unemployment rate of 14.3 percent combined with its poverty rate of 9.9 percent. The city also has low levels of sunshine combined with high robbery and murder rates.

The complete list of the top ten most stressed cities includes:

•    Detroit, Michigan
•    Los Angeles, California
•    Cleveland, Ohio
•    Riverside, California
•    St. Louis, Missouri
•    New York City, New York
•    New Orleans, Louisiana
•    Chicago, Illinois
•    Birmingham, Alabama
•    Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

The complete top ten list of the most relaxed cities in the United States included:

•    Salt Lake City, Utah
•    Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Virginia
•    Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
•    Raleigh, North Carolina
•    Austin, Texas
•    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
•    Denver, Colorado
•    San Antonio, Texas
•    Kansas City, Missouri
•    Phoenix, Arizona

Salt Lake City gained the top spot largely due to the good health of its residents, the easy commutes, the relatively high employment rates and the low crime levels.

 

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