The 20 US cities where people are the most stressed

Whether it stems from receiving an unexpected bill or struggling with your workload, stress is often perceived as a personal matter.

But stress levels can also be shaped by more systemic factors such as poverty, crime, and childcare costs.

For the most stressed cities in the US, poverty and high levels of violent crime consistently show up as contributing factors.

A recent study by WalletHub ranked 182 US cities based on four areas of stress: work, financial, family, and health and safety.

The study evaluated the 150 most populated US cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state.

WalletHub evaluated the four areas using 39 metrics.

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the highest level of stress, and the results were then combined to determine each city’s overall score.

For work stress, metrics included unemployment rate, average weekly work hours, job security, and traffic congestion.

Financial stress was evaluated with metrics such as median annual household income, share of households behind on bills, and the poverty rate.

Family stress included factors such as separation and divorce rates, and childcare costs.

Health and safety stress included the share of adults who could not see a doctor because of cost, hate-crime incidents per capita, and the number of mass shootings.

Data for the ranking was compiled from federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as non-profits and research organizations.

The scores were then ranked from highest to lowest, with 100 being the highest level of stress.

Here’s a list of the 20 most stressed cities in the US.