Iran Press/ America: A recent study by WalletHub found that an alarming number of Americans, 83% in fact, currently feel stressed about inflation. Violence and crime are two other facets that are also stressing out at least three in four Americans.
The study looked at more than 180 cities and compared the levels of stress as it related to unemployment rates, household income, health, and divorce rates.
Stress levels in Cleveland ranked the highest for financial stress, second in health and safety stress, and third in family stress. Cleveland, a city with a shrinking population that is now about 360,000 people, is a predominantly Black city with demographics showing residents are composed of about 48% of Black or African-American persons, and 40% white.
The city has the nation’s second-highest poverty rate, behind Detroit, Illinois, and the highest divorce rate. Those who live in this city, according to the study, also suffer from a lack of sleep and get the second-fewest hours of sleep each night, after Detroit.
Cleveland also experienced a mass shooting just this Sunday that injured 12 people. The city’s mayor, Justin Bibb, said he fears the city will “continue to see incidents like this occur unless change is made at the Statehouse.”
The top 10 cities in America that ranked the “most stressed” include Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Fayetteville, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; and Augusta, Georgia.
Baltimore ranked 4th in work stress, 5th in financial stress, and 9th in family stress, and 44th in health and safety stress. Meanwhile, Philadelphia - the City of Brotherly Love - ranked 8th in work stress, 9th in financial stress, 11th in health and safety stress, and 50th in family stress.
As for New York City, it reported having somewhat average stress levels in most of its categories, ranking 3rd in work stress. However, Washington, DC, ranked the highest in work stress but showed low levels of stress in financial, health, and safety stresses.
Huntington, West Virginia, ranked the highest in adults in fair or poor health (25.4%) whereas Portland, Maine, reported the lowest percentage of adults in fair or poor health (10%).
According to the study, South Burlington (the least stressed city) has the lowest unemployment rate (1.50%) in the US. The city has a small, but growing population of about 20,000 people. A majority of the city, like much of Vermont, is white (86%). At least 52% of the city’s population is female, while 47% are male.
Less than half of those in South Burlington rent (40%) while nearly 60% own their own homes. The average household income is $95,000. But like many cities in the Northeast, South Burlington had an outrageous average home listing price of $579,000 in June of 2023, according to Realtor.com.
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