1 South Carolina City Ranks Among The 'Least Stressed' Cities In America

Stress can come in many forms and from every side, from facing financial hardships and job loss to food insecurity and medical debt or even rising crime rates striking fear and paranoia in some residents. Unfortunately, some cities have it harder than others as a new report breaks down which destinations are more stressed and which are less troubled. South Carolina has one of each.

WalletHub compiled a list of the most and least stressed cities in America in 2024, comparing data for over 180 cities, including at least the two most populated cities in each state. According to the site, Charleston ranked No. 169 overall, making it one of the "least stressed" cities in the entire country. Additionally, Columbia ranked slightly higher at No. 76 in part to its financial stress.

These are the 10 most stressed cities in the U.S.:

1. Cleveland, Ohio
2. Detroit, Michigan
3. Baltimore, Maryland
4. Memphis, Tennessee
5. Gulfport, Mississippi
6. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7. Birmingham, Alabama
8. Akron, Ohio
9. New Orleans, Louisiana
10. Jackson, Mississippi

To determine its ranking, WalletHub compared 182 cities across four factors: work stress, financial stress, family stress and health & safety stress. These factors were then evaluated using 39 relevant metrics, including average weekly work hours, job security, unemployment rate, income growth, housing affordability, median annual household income, poverty rate, separation & divorce rate, child care cost, mental health, suicide rate, crime rate, number of mass shootings and more.

Check out WalletHub 's full report to see which cities are the most and least stressed in the country.