We found how stressed Americans are across work, life, finance and health – scored 1-50
A new survey shows that half of Americans are experiencing financial stress, alongside pressures from work and school. Research from health insurance comparison service iSelect reveals that money, work, and lifestyle challenges are among the leading sources of daily stress.
The study surveyed more than 1,000 people across the United States to reveal what’s causing the most stress.
The survey found:
| Biggest sources of emotional stress? | % of Americans who voted |
| Financial (debt, money worries, mortgage, unemployment, cost of living) | 50% |
| Lifestyle (sleep, poor nutrition, isolation) | 29% |
| Health concerns (injury, chronic pain, access to healthcare, caring for someone else) | 27% |
| Work or school (workload, burnout, deadlines, difficult colleagues, job change) | 22% |
| Relationships or social life (marriage, divorce, death of a loved one, friendships) | 21% |
| Environmental (housing, living situation, access to essential services, moving house) | 17% |
| Family responsibilities (children, parents, new family) | 15% |
| Climate change or global issues | 11% |
State-by-State Stress Ranking:
iSelect further conducted desk research, analyzing 28 data sets indexed across six categories: finance, education, work, mental health, relationships, and health-related financial stress. States were then ranked from 1 (most stressed) to 50 (least stressed) in each category.
According to the rankings, the states with the highest overall stress levels are:
| State | Finance stress | Education Stress | Work Stress | Mental Health Stress | Relationship Stress | Health Finance Stress | Stress Map 100/0 |
| Tennessee | 15 | 22 | 10 | 20 | 12 | 17 | 62.4 |
| Florida | 19 | 2 | 22 | 46 | 5 | 4 | 61.8 |
| Texas | 17 | 10 | 4 | 42 | 28 | 3 | 60.0 |
| Alabama | 38 | 25 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 59.4 |
| Georgia | 27 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 17 | 11 | 59.1 |
| North Carolina | 16 | 16 | 13 | 40 | 14 | 9 | 58.8 |
| Arizona | 9 | 20 | 34 | 11 | 20 | 19 | 57.2 |
| Oregon | 13 | 11 | 36 | 4 | 21 | 28 | 57.2 |
| Ohio | 46 | 14 | 27 | 3 | 16 | 7 | 57.2 |
| Kentucky | 41 | 33 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 27 | 55.1 |
| Nevada | 5 | 26 | 29 | 17 | 9 | 34 | 55.1 |
| South Carolina | 14 | 36 | 8 | 28 | 10 | 25 | 54.8 |
| Washington | 6 | 18 | 45 | 12 | 35 | 15 | 51.7 |
| Utah | 2 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 50 | 35 | 51.4 |
| Idaho | 3 | 32 | 11 | 6 | 40 | 42 | 50.8 |
| Pennsylvania | 44 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 22 | 5 | 49.9 |
| Louisiana | 45 | 45 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 23 | 49.9 |
| Indiana | 37 | 29 | 19 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 49.3 |
| Oklahoma | 47 | 46 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 29 | 49.3 |
| Virginia | 11 | 12 | 31 | 45 | 27 | 13 | 49.3 |
| California | 7 | 1 | 49 | 38 | 43 | 1 | 49.3 |
| West Virginia | 43 | 40 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 36 | 49.0 |
| Montana | 10 | 8 | 35 | 18 | 25 | 46 | 48.4 |
| Kansas | 18 | 49 | 9 | 5 | 31 | 32 | 47.8 |
| Mississippi | 42 | 42 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 33 | 47.4 |
The least stressed states:
While some states face high stress levels, others appear to manage it better. According to the survey, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Connecticut rank among the least stressed states, with lower scores across financial, job, mental health, and relationship pressures.
| State | Finance stress | Education Stress | Work Stress | Mental Health Stress | Relationship Stress | Health Finance Stress | Stress Map 100/0 |
| North Dakota | 40 | 50 | 21 | 34 | 48 | 47 | 18.4 |
| Nebraska | 35 | 43 | 41 | 36 | 47 | 37 | 18.7 |
| Connecticut | 32 | 28 | 44 | 47 | 39 | 26 | 25.7 |
| Rhode Island | 29 | 35 | 43 | 35 | 30 | 43 | 26 |
| Hawaii | 4 | 19 | 38 | 50 | 46 | 41 | 31.2 |
| Minnesota | 26 | 31 | 33 | 37 | 49 | 20 | 31.8 |
| Alaska | 21 | 37 | 32 | 14 | 34 | 48 | 34.9 |
| Iowa | 34 | 41 | 12 | 32 | 37 | 30 | 34.9 |
| Wisconsin | 33 | 44 | 15 | 31 | 42 | 21 | 34.9 |
| New Hampshire | 20 | 48 | 20 | 25 | 33 | 39 | 35.2 |
| South Dakota | 12 | 23 | 24 | 41 | 38 | 45 | 35.8 |
| New Jersey | 36 | 7 | 40 | 49 | 41 | 8 | 36.4 |
| Illinois | 48 | 4 | 42 | 44 | 36 | 6 | 36.7 |
| Vermont | 31 | 24 | 37 | 13 | 23 | 49 | 37.7 |
| Maryland | 25 | 3 | 47 | 48 | 32 | 16 | 39.5 |
| Maine | 28 | 27 | 39 | 21 | 15 | 40 | 39.8 |
| Massachusetts | 24 | 9 | 50 | 30 | 44 | 12 | 40.1 |
| New York | 50 | 5 | 46 | 39 | 26 | 2 | 40.4 |
| Delaware | 22 | 13 | 30 | 29 | 24 | 44 | 42.2 |
| Missouri | 39 | 38 | 28 | 23 | 13 | 18 | 43.2 |
| New Mexico | 23 | 34 | 26 | 24 | 11 | 38 | 44.1 |
| Michigan | 49 | 15 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 10 | 44.4 |
| Arkansas | 30 | 47 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 31 | 45 |
| Colorado | 1 | 21 | 48 | 16 | 45 | 22 | 45 |
| Wyoming | 8 | 39 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 50 | 46.2 |
For more information, and to view the full study, please head to: The Leading Causes of Stress Worldwide – iSelect
About the Data:
The survey was conducted by Pure Profile in August 2025 and included responses from 1,009 Americans across a range of regions and age groups. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Date:
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/average-income-by-state
- https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/research/consumer-debt-study/
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/mental-health-statistics-by-state
- https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-state
- https://districtadministration.com/briefing/stressed-ranking-all-50-states-on-frustrations-about-education/
- https://mhanational.org/the-state-of-mental-health-in-america/data-rankings/ranking-the-states/
- https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc/background.html
- https://www.kff.org/state-health-policy-data/state-indicator/health-spending-per-capita/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/marital-status-by-state
About iSelect
At iSelect, we’re passionate about making Aussies’ lives easier by saving them time, effort and money. We are Australia’s go-to destination for comparison across insurance, utilities and personal finance products made available from our range of providers. Our service is provided at no cost to the customer. www.iselect.com.au