Feeling anxious? You’re not alone. NC ranks among ‘most stressed out’ states. Here’s why
People who live in North Carolina have shown signs of being impacted by stress more than most.
North Carolina was ranked seventh out of 49 states across four stress metrics, including Google search trends, employment, housing, and health, according to a recent report by data scientists at Leafwell.
The data also included standard stress-related search terms, such as “stress relief and stress remedies, employment metrics, including unemployment rates, commute times, household incomes, changes to housing prices, and the number of uninsured citizens,” the report stated.
Using the data compiled from Google, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina received a total stress score of 59.3 out of a combined maximum stress score of 80.
North Carolina residents are depressed
The state ranked ninth overall for stress-related searches, which equates to around nine in every 100 people searching for terms like ‘depression’ and ‘depression symptoms’ each month.
A 2023 Kaiser Family Foundation mental health analysis found that 24.9% of adults in North Carolina “reported symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder,” compared to 32.3% of adults in the U.S.
The 2023 North Carolina Child Health Report Card released in April revealed that more than 1 in 10 children ages 3-17 were diagnosed with depression or anxiety in 2020, The News & Observer reported. That was a 49% increase from 2016.
North Carolina finished behind Florida, Arizona, California, Georgia, and Texas, respectively, per Leafwell. Nevada was ranked No. 1 on the list, with a stress score of 67.42 because it has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 5.4 percent and the second-highest house value loss at minus-7 percent.
“The results from this study offer revealing insights into how causes of stress can range widely from state to state,” said Mitch Doucette, director of research at Leafwell. “By analyzing metrics ranging from Google search trends to housing and employment statistics, we can see a comprehensive picture of the unique pressures each state grapples with.”
