These Are The 10 Stressed Places In Minnesota

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You know that tight feeling in your chest when you start a new job? That’s stress.

And there are certain places in Minnesota that have more to stress out about then just their first day at work.

There are things like dealing with ever-longer commutes, working longer and longer hours, and just trying to find a job in the first place. But which places in Minnesota take being stressed to the next level?

It turns out the good people of Columbia Heights have earned the dubious distinction of being the most stressed out place in Minnesota. The city is at the top of the pack of the 10 most stressed out places in the North Star State:

Read on to see why these places in Minnesota could use a Xanax.

For more MN reading, check out:

How We Measured Stress In Minnesota (Without Stressing Out)

In order to measure stress, we selected a set of six criteria that reflect its root causes for most people and used them to look at the 144 places in Minnesota with a population over 5,000 according to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey:

Percentage of population with a long commute (over 30 minutes)
Unemployment Rate
Hours worked
Population density
Percentage of income spent on rent
Percentage of population without health insurance

The higher any of these was, the more stressful the people of the place are.

Our data is from the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey for 2010-2014.

We ranked each place from 1 to 144 (with one being the most stressed side of the scale) in the six individual criteria. These ranks were then averaged into a Stress Score, the lowest of which was the most stressed out place in the North Star State.

Below, we’ll take a look at the standout stress stats for each top 10 most stressed places, and wrap the whole thing up with a detailed ranking of all 144 places we analyzed.

1. Columbia Heights

Population: 19,605People With High Rent: 53.2%
People With Long Commute: 31.6%
People Without Insurance: 13.9%

2. Spring Lake Park

Population: 6,503People With High Rent: 56.0%
People With Long Commute: 34.5%
People Without Insurance: 10.6%

3. Brooklyn Center

Population: 30,549 People With High Rent: 61.7%
People With Long Commute: 30.7%
People Without Insurance: 13.9%

4. Brooklyn Park

Population: 77,579People With High Rent: 56.5%
People With Long Commute: 37.3%
People Without Insurance: 12.5%

5. Big Lake

Population: 10,230People With High Rent: 67.2%
People With Long Commute: 58.4%
People Without Insurance: 10.6%

6. St. Paul

Population: 291,728People With High Rent: 51.1%
People With Long Commute: 27.0%
People Without Insurance: 11.6%

7. Richfield

Population: 35,877People With High Rent: 52.9%
People With Long Commute: 24.3%
People Without Insurance: 14.0%

8. Coon Rapids

Population: 61,809People With High Rent: 50.6%
People With Long Commute: 41.3%
People Without Insurance: 8.5%

9. West St. Paul

Population: 19,690People With High Rent: 52.6%
People With Long Commute: 27.2%
People Without Insurance: 10.3%

10. Minneapolis

Population: 394,424People With High Rent: 48.3%
People With Long Commute: 25.8%
People Without Insurance: 11.7%

Detailed List Of Stressed Places In Minnesota

City	Rank	Population	People With High Rent	People With Long Commute	People Without Insurance
Columbia Heights	1	19,605	53.2%	31.6%	13.9%
Spring Lake Park	2	6,503	56.0%	34.5%	10.6%
Brooklyn Center	3	30,549	61.7%	30.7%	13.9%
Brooklyn Park	4	77,579	56.5%	37.3%	12.5%
Big Lake	5	10,230	67.2%	58.4%	10.6%
St. Paul	6	291,728	51.1%	27.0%	11.6%
Richfield	7	35,877	52.9%	24.3%	14.0%
Coon Rapids	8	61,809	50.6%	41.3%	8.5%
West St. Paul	9	19,690	52.6%	27.2%	10.3%
Minneapolis	10	394,424	48.3%	25.8%	11.7%
New Hope	11	20,648	55.3%	30.8%	9.3%
North St. Paul	12	11,775	53.9%	24.1%	8.2%
South St. Paul	13	20,368	49.9%	24.0%	10.4%
Anoka	14	17,202	56.2%	34.9%	8.7%
Fridley	15	27,494	45.7%	28.7%	12.4%
Robbinsdale	16	14,196	52.9%	27.3%	8.3%
Maplewood	17	39,261	58.0%	30.8%	9.8%
Little Canada	18	10,015	46.0%	26.8%	13.9%
Mounds View	19	12,412	47.3%	30.8%	9.0%
Buffalo	20	15,710	58.1%	46.3%	7.1%
Worthington	21	12,920	46.3%	19.5%	18.4%
Hastings	22	22,355	48.7%	38.2%	7.4%
St. Francis	23	7,297	56.7%	59.9%	8.0%
Austin	24	24,760	53.6%	12.6%	11.7%
Burnsville	25	61,059	44.6%	33.1%	9.7%
Faribault	26	23,460	47.4%	21.3%	13.5%
Zimmerman	27	5,268	46.8%	54.2%	4.6%
North Branch	28	10,099	80.0%	55.8%	10.0%
Sauk Rapids	29	13,079	50.5%	16.0%	8.5%
Crystal	30	22,459	52.6%	28.4%	8.9%
St. Cloud	31	66,038	51.6%	15.5%	10.0%
Oakdale	32	27,705	53.3%	31.2%	6.6%
Brainerd	33	13,521	47.4%	18.4%	12.9%
Bloomington	34	85,136	47.4%	24.1%	7.5%
Blaine	35	59,295	47.8%	41.7%	5.3%
Little Falls	36	8,291	51.7%	25.5%	8.4%
Savage	37	28,055	47.8%	39.0%	6.5%
Apple Valley	38	49,911	46.9%	34.6%	5.8%
St. Paul Park	39	5,327	41.9%	38.6%	5.5%
Willmar	40	19,626	53.8%	11.6%	8.7%
Bemidji	41	14,319	50.4%	13.0%	11.6%
Hopkins	42	17,909	44.3%	21.9%	6.9%
Chisholm	43	5,001	52.8%	14.1%	9.6%
Litchfield	44	6,689	46.3%	24.8%	11.6%
Stillwater	45	18,541	49.2%	35.3%	5.5%
Winona	46	27,526	48.4%	12.2%	9.0%
St. Anthony	47	8,501	40.4%	27.1%	8.0%
Maple Grove	48	64,364	50.8%	39.4%	3.9%
White Bear Lake	49	24,398	51.0%	32.8%	6.6%
Cambridge	50	8,223	52.1%	36.1%	6.2%
Crookston	51	7,899	56.8%	15.1%	6.3%
Jordan	52	5,784	37.2%	40.6%	10.1%
Virginia	53	8,671	56.1%	15.3%	7.7%
Monticello	54	12,974	46.5%	44.5%	6.3%
Shakopee	55	38,613	42.2%	34.8%	7.4%
Mound	56	9,205	38.3%	45.5%	6.7%
Cottage Grove	57	35,169	50.4%	38.8%	6.9%
International Falls	58	6,329	59.9%	7.2%	8.4%
Isanti	59	5,396	44.3%	64.1%	8.0%
Inver Grove Heights	60	34,258	46.3%	25.6%	6.9%
Oak Grove	61	8,145	40.4%	54.7%	8.8%
Waseca	62	9,370	37.3%	19.4%	9.5%
Mankato	63	39,871	54.2%	9.8%	7.0%
Andover	64	31,271	65.1%	47.9%	4.6%
Minnetrista	65	6,661	77.5%	46.3%	7.5%
Champlin	66	23,591	48.7%	39.8%	4.8%
Prior Lake	67	23,956	44.1%	41.5%	6.0%
Duluth	68	86,239	56.9%	11.1%	6.5%
Albertville	69	7,159	29.6%	53.7%	2.9%
Otsego	70	14,257	49.8%	56.2%	5.8%
St. Louis Park	71	46,466	35.9%	21.2%	8.0%
Owatonna	72	25,550	52.5%	13.8%	5.1%
Glencoe	73	5,575	43.0%	28.4%	8.0%
Alexandria	74	11,465	54.4%	7.8%	10.7%
Moorhead	75	39,053	55.0%	8.9%	7.1%
Belle Plaine	76	6,794	36.3%	49.8%	6.0%
Ramsey	77	24,441	44.8%	49.5%	5.4%
Arden Hills	78	9,700	61.7%	21.3%	4.5%
Red Wing	79	16,502	45.9%	21.3%	9.7%
New Brighton	80	21,899	42.3%	25.6%	6.0%
Plymouth	81	72,868	43.7%	30.3%	5.0%
Delano	82	5,598	45.3%	49.4%	4.1%
Waconia	83	11,230	46.2%	40.1%	3.8%
Forest Lake	84	18,933	44.2%	47.1%	5.6%
Albert Lea	85	17,931	41.6%	14.7%	8.9%
Northfield	86	20,303	47.6%	18.9%	5.5%
Cloquet	87	12,064	49.2%	23.0%	7.4%
Roseville	88	34,554	40.3%	26.6%	7.0%
Golden Valley	89	20,683	47.4%	22.0%	4.8%
Chanhassen	90	24,003	61.4%	28.2%	3.7%
Hutchinson	91	13,983	42.7%	19.4%	9.3%
Lakeville	92	57,715	42.6%	38.5%	5.2%
Rosemount	93	22,469	51.4%	40.0%	6.2%
Shoreview	94	25,673	41.8%	32.3%	4.4%
Eagan	95	65,053	36.4%	33.5%	5.1%
Stewartville	96	5,990	52.0%	16.7%	6.3%
Rochester	97	109,252	46.1%	10.1%	6.9%
Hibbing	98	16,330	43.5%	16.3%	9.8%
Falcon Heights	99	5,439	43.2%	23.8%	5.4%
Farmington	100	21,861	41.3%	46.5%	3.9%
Elk River	101	23,346	37.9%	48.6%	6.9%
Shorewood	102	7,438	54.0%	33.6%	3.5%
St. Michael	103	16,767	51.9%	52.3%	3.9%
Eden Prairie	104	62,096	35.6%	25.7%	6.0%
Vadnais Heights	105	12,770	42.3%	30.3%	6.4%
Ham Lake	106	15,565	31.2%	51.7%	5.4%
Chaska	107	24,238	39.5%	34.5%	6.7%
Detroit Lakes	108	8,834	45.2%	17.7%	10.3%
Lake City	109	5,093	41.1%	21.5%	7.5%
Rogers	110	11,747	43.9%	46.3%	3.5%
Minnetonka	111	50,897	36.8%	23.8%	5.4%
Lino Lakes	112	20,671	43.8%	45.8%	3.2%
Waite Park	113	7,391	39.6%	11.9%	7.4%
East Bethel	114	11,614	24.8%	65.6%	4.6%
Edina	115	48,940	38.1%	21.2%	4.0%
New Prague	116	7,434	31.4%	47.4%	4.6%
Woodbury	117	64,544	33.5%	34.4%	4.0%
East Grand Forks	118	8,621	46.9%	8.9%	8.5%
Grand Rapids	119	10,950	45.5%	9.6%	11.3%
Mahtomedi	120	7,923	34.2%	35.5%	3.7%
St. Joseph	121	6,694	54.8%	8.7%	2.3%
Mendota Heights	122	11,131	47.5%	25.2%	2.1%
Fairmont	123	10,474	45.8%	14.9%	7.8%
Redwood Falls	124	5,174	36.9%	12.4%	8.5%
Corcoran	125	5,482	5.6%	39.4%	5.2%
Hermantown	126	9,588	63.6%	10.6%	5.8%
Sartell	127	16,123	42.9%	17.4%	5.7%
North Mankato	128	13,403	42.5%	7.3%	5.2%
Byron	129	5,023	39.6%	13.4%	8.2%
St. Peter	130	11,403	47.6%	11.7%	5.2%
Hugo	131	13,850	39.9%	51.5%	5.1%
Kasson	132	6,017	44.5%	21.1%	3.2%
Victoria	133	7,845	32.7%	41.3%	3.5%
Fergus Falls	134	13,215	42.2%	9.8%	5.6%
Thief River Falls	135	8,662	38.7%	10.6%	7.0%
Montevideo	136	5,283	33.4%	13.3%	9.6%
Wyoming	137	7,764	34.3%	55.6%	3.8%
Marshall	138	13,609	36.8%	8.3%	7.3%
Morris	139	5,324	62.2%	5.9%	4.0%
Medina	140	5,163	24.1%	31.5%	3.5%
New Ulm	141	13,328	40.6%	11.3%	5.3%
Lake Elmo	142	8,123	32.6%	35.2%	2.5%
Baxter	143	7,710	44.8%	10.1%	4.9%
Orono	144	7,690	33.2%	32.1%	3.8%

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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