WASHINGTON — With the close proximity to our nation's capital and many high-profile public servants, it may come as no surprise to those living in the DMV that Virginia and Maryland have been ranked as some of the 'most stressed' states in the nation.
While every state has pros and cons that contribute to the well being of who live there, a new study found that the stress levels in the DMV are in fact higher than others.
Job resource site Zippia released their top ten rankings of the most stressed states in the country, determined by six different factors: population density, commute times, number of hours worked, unemployment rate, home price to income ratio and the percentage of people in the state who are insured. The group takes the ranking from each category and then averages them for a total score, which are then ranked accordingly.
Maryland came in at lucky #5, with Virginia following shortly behind #8. The average commute for Marylanders was 32.9 minutes with Virginia not far behind at 28.4 minutes.
The group said the data used is the latest available from the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey, and the higher any of the six factors were, the higher up on the ranking they were.
The most stressed state of them all? Florida, followed behind by New Jersey, Texas, and California. And if you are looking for somewhere to get away from all the tension and long commutes, you might need to travel a bit -- the study showed Iowa as the least stressed, with Minnesota and North Dakota right behind.
Until then, get your EZ-Passes ready and take a deep breath.
