Louisiana was found to be the state with the highest stress levels among its population, according to a report by personal finance website WalletHub.
The "Most and Least Stressed States" ranking for 2024 compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across 40 key metrics, including factors such as average hours worked per week, median income and separation and divorce rates.
The report categorized these metrics into four main categories: work-related stress, money-related stress, family-related stress and health- and safety-related stress. The full methodology can be found here. Each state was also given an overall score, with higher scores indicating higher levels of stress.
Louisiana, the state found to be the most stressed, had a total score of 57.84. By comparison, Minnesota, the state found to be the least stressed, had a score of 30.23.
Louisiana ranked third in the work-related stress, fourth in money-related, 10th in family-related and third in health- and safety-related stress.
The report referred to Louisiana having one of the highest violent crime and property crime rates per capita, the third-highest separation and divorce rate of any state and the second-highest poverty rate in the country — all contributing to its list-topping ranking.