Report: Oklahoma is sixth most stressed U.S. state

(The Center Square) – Oklahoma is the sixth most stressed state in the U.S., according to a new study, in large part because of financial and other work-related concerns.

Personal finance website Wallethub ranked the states based on more than 40 indicators across categories such as average number of hours worked per week, personal bankruptcy rate and average number of hours of adequate sleep by adults in the state.

“Oklahoma is the sixth most stressed state,” Wallethub analysts Jill Gonazlez told The Center Square. “Work-related stress is one of the factors that contributed to this ranking, as its residents have the fifth longest work week in the country, the third lowest amount of leisure time per day, and the fourth lowest income growth rate, under 3%.

“Looking at money related stress, we found that Oklahomans have low credit scores, almost two thirds are not able to save for their children’s college, and almost 16% of them are living in poverty.”

Family-related stress also a major issue in Oklahoma, she said.

“The separation and divorce rate is higher than 23%, and the state scored high for parental stress,” Gonzalez said. “As a consequence, 16% of parents had to change or quit their jobs due to child care problems – the highest percentage in the country.”

Oklahoma also has a large share of adults in poor health at more than 21%, a high suicide rate, almost 17% of adults reporting they can’t afford to see a doctor, and the second lowest percentage of insured population at nearly 86%,” she said.

“Additionally, the physical activity rate is the second lowest nationwide, the state has a high crime rate, a low well-being index, and lacks in quality of infrastructure,” Gonzalez added.

Overall, Nevada ranked as the most stressed state, followed by Louisiana and New Mexico.

South Dakota ranked as the least stressed state, followed by Utah and Minnesota.

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