Home Sweet Home? The Most Stressed Out Neighborhoods In America, Based On ZIP Code

The hour commute to work, long hours at the office, and half your paycheck going to rent for that little box of an apartment in the city can make you tear your hair out. While you are fully convinced your life is far worse, it’s actually not, unless you live in the Midwest or down South in one of America’s top 10 most stressful neighborhoods, based on the latest U.S. Census. Movoto, a real estate blog, has crunched the data and assessed eight stress factors to determine the most and least stressful ZIP codes in America that you may call home sweet home.

The impact of the residential neighborhood on health and well-being has been recognized in behavioral medicine with neighborhood-level effects that are independent of the characteristics of its residents. The effects of neighborhoods on chronic stress is partly due to exposure to community-wide stressors. A 2001 study published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine found residential neighborhood problems constitute sources of chronic stress that may increase risk of poor health.

Movoto analyzed the stress levels of a total of 28,371 places by taking into account these eight stress factors: unemployment rate (the higher, the more stress); median household income (the lower, the more stress); percent of monthly income spent on rent (the higher, the more stress); monthly selected homeowner costs as a percent of income (the higher, the more stress); percent of families below the poverty line (the higher, the more stress); average commute time (the higher, the more stress); percent of population without health insurance (the higher, the more stress); and mean usual hours worked per week (the higher, the more stress). The employment figures used were a five-year average from 2008 to 2012 from the Five Year American Community Survey.

The real estate company proceeded to rank each ZIP code into each category from one to 28,371, with numbers closer to one being better rankings. Each place's rankings were then averaged into one overall Big Deal Score. “The place with the lowest number for that score was the most stressed out ZIP code in America,” according to Movoto’s website.

Surprisingly, a small town in Ohio rounded up the top spot as the most stressful ZIP code in America. Williamsfield, Ohio with ZIP code 44093 has a small population of 984 people with “basically no bars, restaurants, or parks,” says Movoto. The residents of this zip code struggle with long working hours and very little pay-off. Approximately 40 percent of locals don't have health insurance, 40 percent of families are below the poverty line, and rent accounts for an average of 50 percent of people's pay checks, although 42-hour workweeks are the norm.

Three neighborhoods in Mississippi make the top 10 list, including 38647 Michigan City in second, 38617 Coahoma in fifth, and 39743 Crawford in seventh. The residents in Michigan City work long hours, have very low median incomes and an average commute of 45 minutes. Similarly, Coahoma and Crawford also struggle as hard-working locals pull in low incomes and many don’t have health insurance.

On the West Coast, it seems there is more bounce in California, with four ZIP codes rounding out the top 10 least stressed out ZIP codes list. Los Angeles ZIP code of 90058 takes the top spot, while 95328 Keyes takes seventh, 92327 Daggett takes ninth, and 90037 Los Angeles takes 10th.

New York City represents the East Coast in the top 10 least stressed out list with 11237 Brooklyn, N.Y. taking the fourth spot. The city that never sleeps may actually be more relaxed and laid back than you like to think. The cornucopia of bars, restaurants, and some high income jobs contribute to the ease of stress.

Stress-filled neighborhoods can be hazardous to your health in many different ways, although stress does vary greatly depending on where you live. Neighborhood stress can exacerbate cognitive problems and other health issues over a lifetime.

Click on the gallery below to view why these are America's top 10 most stressed out ZIP codes. For a complete list, click here.

By Movoto Real Estate