Despite being a winterless wonderland engulfed in water and sunshine, Miami was named America’s third most stressed city, according to a study by Realtor.
Methodology included housing affordability, rent, and both the average number of work hours and sleep hours. The only two cities faring worse than the Magic City were out in California, in Los Angeles (No. 1) and Riverside (No. 2).
Here is Realtor’s Miami stress analysis:
OK, this one surprised you, right? Turns out sunshine and beaches aren’t the answer to everything. In fact, an endless cycle of too little leisure time and chronic sleep deprivation help contribute to the city’s abnormally high 12.8% divorce rate.
Another unexpected factor: prosperity! Florida’s economy and housing market are recovering after being hit hard by the housing collapse in 2008 and subsequent recession, but somehow, more and more married couples now feel financially secure enough to split up, according to divorce lawyer Ronald Kauffman. "The fear that they will be penniless and homeless after a divorce is largely gone," Kauffman says.
The least stressful cities were paced by Fargo, ND (No. 1), Burlington, VT (No. 2), and Madison, WI (No. 3).
The 11 metrics used in the study are below.
- Housing affordability, signaled by price-to-income ratio
- Rent
- Average hours of sleep
- Average work hours
- Percentage of people who commute more than 45 minutes to work
- Unemployment rate
- Percentage of people who live below the poverty line
- Divorce rate
- Number of yoga and meditation centers per capita
- Percentage of people in "poor" or "fair" health (46% of Americans cite health concerns as a leading cause of stress)
- Percentage of people who don’t think "having as much fun as possible" is important, according to a 2016 Nielsen poll.
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