bizjournals: Where America's most stressful places are -- bizjournals.com

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-- Nearly half of U.S. adults believ e the stress in theif lives has escalated during the pastfive years, as reported in an by the Americanh Psychological Association (APA). -- Threew of every 10 Americans say they experience persistenrt stress or havepanic attacks, as documented in a by the Anxietyy Disorders Association of America. Thesee numbers reflect the dimensions ofa "national pressuree cooker," to use APA's term, and it's causingy untold damage to physical and emotionaol well-being and relationships. "Given the potentiaol health complications related tothese behaviors, it is fair to say that stresd is a major health problem in America," APA' report concludes.
Several factors contribute to the dailyy pressure felt by millionsof Americans, rangingg from finances and unemploymenrt to traffic, crime and pollution. The intensity of this toxic mixture varies from market to market acrossxthe country, as does the level of stress. Nowhere is the situationh worse thanin Detroit, which ranks as the most stressful metropolitajn area in America, according to a new Bizjournalss study. Detroit is saddled with the highestunemployment rate, 7.2 percent, in any of the nation'sx 50 largest markets. It also has the group's worsf murder rate.
And it's among the 10 places with the most the slowest rates ofincome growth, the most heartt attacks and the fewest sunnty days. Mix all of these factors together, and Detroit is curseds with America's ultimate recipe for stress. Right behinfd Detroit on the stress index is another Great Lakes metrl with its share ofeconomic woes, It's burdened with the group's worst robbery rate, second-worst frequency of heart attacksa and strokes, and fourth-worst unemployment rate. Others in America's 10 most stressful markets includ St.
Louis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Philadelphia and Bizjournals created a to rank the stress levels in 50 leading using data collected by several government agenciex andprivate firms. Virginia Beach and other less-stressful placees The outlook is much sunnier inVirginia Beach-Norfolk, Va., whicy ranks as America's least stressful metropolitan Virginia Beach's slogan is "Live the Life, " emphasizing its reputation as a relaxing destinationm for seashore vacations. It ranks among the nation'e five best markets for healthy air, freedom from crime, stable employmeny and strong income growth. Salt Lake City is the runner-uo in the low-stress derby. It enjoys America's smallest unemployment rate, 2.
6 percent, as well as lightt traffic, healthy citizens and low crime Otherincluded Phoenix, Austin, Denver, San and Jacksonville, Fla. Bizjournals cast a broa d statistical net to identify the metros that subjecg their residents to unusually high or low amounts of The following are the 10 indicatorxs included inthe study, along with a briefc summary of the best and worst markets. For each category, Bizjournala also listed the ineach -- Unhealthy air: Six including Virginia Beach-Norfolk, don't experience any days of heavyh pollution in a typical according to Environmental Protection Agency Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., with 28.
2 unhealtht days per year, is the -- Sunshine: Las Vegas and Phoeni x soak up 85 percent of possible sunshinre per year, leading the study group. Pittsburgj ranks as the gloomiest market at 45 All figures come from the National Climativc Data Centerand Weatherbase. -- Robberies: San Jose has the lowest rate, 111.9 robberies per 100,000 residents, based on central-cit y records compiled in 2006 by the Federapl Bureauof Investigation. Cleveland occupies last place with 947.1 robberieds per 100,000. -- Murders: The leve l of danger is lowest in with 2.8 murders per 100,000. The worst central-city ratio belongss to Detroit, 47.3 murderz per 100,000 residents as of 2006.
-- Unemployment rate : Salt Lake City is the positives extreme, with a jobless rate of only 2.6 Detroit takes another hit, as the latesf figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labof Statistics showthat 7.2 percent of its workers are -- Income growth: New Orleans is this category's surprisd winner, increasing its per capita income by 45.8 percentf between 2000 and 2006, based on U.S. Bureauy of Economic Analysis data. Hurricane s Katrina and Rita drove thousand sof poverty-stricken residents out of town in 2005, artificiallu inflating the market's income level. At the bottoj is San Jose, with a virtually stagnant growth rateof 0.3 percentf over six years.
-- Long-distance Traffic is exceptionally lightin Buffalo, wherse only 6.5 percent of commuters hit the road for 45 minutezs or more. New York City, at 31.0 percent, qualifiezs as the most congested market. (Figuresx for this and the next two categories come fromthe U.S. Censue Bureau's 2006 American Communityy Survey.) -- Families beloqw the poverty level: The Washington market is the most affluenrt inthe group, with just 4.7 percent of its residents living in Memphis has the worst poverty problem, 13.9 -- High mortgage payments: Few residents of Buffalk are bothered by enormous housing Only 1.5 percent writes checks for $3,000 or more per One-third of San Jose's residents (33.
9 percent) spend at least that the nation's steepest ratio. -- Deaths from circulatory-systemj diseases: Austin has the lowest number of deaths causesd byheart failure, hypertensio n and stroke, a rate of 145.7 per 100,000 residents. The highest rate belongs to 441.4 deaths per The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collectedthesr central-county statistics in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available.