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These Are The 10 Most Stressed Places In Virginia

By Chris Kolmar
Apr. 26, 2016

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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 Virginia 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 Virginia take being stressed to the next level?

It turns out the good people of Dumfries have earned the dubious distinction of being the most stressed out place in Virginia. The city is at the top of the pack of the 10 most stressed out places in the Old Dominion:

  1. Dumfries
  2. Manassas
  3. Norfolk
  4. Manassas Park
  5. Franklin
  6. Richmond
  7. Portsmouth
  8. Petersburg
  9. Fairfax
  10. Hampton

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

How We Measured Stress In Virginia (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 62 places in Virginia with a population over 5,000 according to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey:

  1. Percentage of population with a long commute (over 30 minutes)
  2. Unemployment Rate
  3. Hours worked
  4. Population density
  5. Percentage of income spent on rent
  6. Percentage of population without health insurance

The higher any of these were, the more stressed 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 62 (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 Old Dominion.

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 62 places we analyzed.

1. Dumfries

Population: 5,122People With High Rent: 53.7%
People With Long Commute: 65.8%
People Without Insurance: 17.7%

2. Manassas

Population: 40,436People With High Rent: 58.1%
People With Long Commute: 51.9%
People Without Insurance: 21.8%

3. Norfolk

Population: 244,745People With High Rent: 54.9%
People With Long Commute: 24.5%
People Without Insurance: 16.8%

4. Manassas Park

Population: 14,992People With High Rent: 45.8%
People With Long Commute: 58.3%
People Without Insurance: 24.2%

5. Franklin

Population: 8,534People With High Rent: 62.4%
People With Long Commute: 38.1%
People Without Insurance: 16.3%

6. Richmond

Population: 211,063People With High Rent: 53.0%
People With Long Commute: 22.2%
People Without Insurance: 17.5%

7. Portsmouth

Population: 96,007People With High Rent: 54.8%
People With Long Commute: 35.7%
People Without Insurance: 13.4%

8. Petersburg

Population: 32,439People With High Rent: 52.8%
People With Long Commute: 24.3%
People Without Insurance: 19.5%

9. Fairfax

Population: 23,507People With High Rent: 54.0%
People With Long Commute: 49.5%
People Without Insurance: 12.8%

10. Hampton

Population: 136,904People With High Rent: 57.2%
People With Long Commute: 26.9%
People Without Insurance: 13.1%

Detailed List Of Stressed Places In Virginia

City Rank Population People With High Rent People With Long Commute People Without Insurance
Dumfries 1 5,122 53.7% 65.8% 17.7%
Manassas 2 40,436 58.1% 51.9% 21.8%
Norfolk 3 244,745 54.9% 24.5% 16.8%
Manassas Park 4 14,992 45.8% 58.3% 24.2%
Franklin 5 8,534 62.4% 38.1% 16.3%
Richmond 6 211,063 53.0% 22.2% 17.5%
Portsmouth 7 96,007 54.8% 35.7% 13.4%
Petersburg 8 32,439 52.8% 24.3% 19.5%
Fairfax 9 23,507 54.0% 49.5% 12.8%
Hampton 10 136,904 57.2% 26.9% 13.1%
Culpeper 11 16,968 51.0% 41.7% 14.5%
Alexandria 12 146,422 43.2% 50.1% 14.9%
Winchester 13 27,031 55.2% 24.5% 16.8%
Hopewell 14 22,375 47.0% 26.7% 16.1%
Fredericksburg 15 26,632 51.2% 29.0% 14.3%
Newport News 16 181,362 48.3% 27.1% 14.2%
Front Royal 17 14,709 49.0% 45.8% 12.4%
Herndon 18 24,141 42.4% 36.2% 21.3%
Woodstock 19 5,164 55.7% 37.9% 17.6%
Martinsville 20 13,745 50.8% 16.2% 17.0%
Leesburg 21 46,211 49.9% 44.4% 11.6%
Emporia 22 5,682 48.8% 18.7% 21.2%
Smithfield 23 8,159 48.7% 51.0% 9.0%
Purcellville 24 8,350 69.0% 55.0% 5.3%
Pulaski 25 8,993 50.1% 20.6% 19.0%
Buena Vista 26 6,683 64.2% 15.8% 16.2%
Waynesboro 27 21,177 53.3% 23.8% 14.0%
Harrisonburg 28 50,821 53.0% 11.6% 15.6%
Roanoke 29 97,949 46.2% 15.3% 16.8%
Bristol 30 17,595 44.7% 19.0% 15.8%
Richlands 31 5,698 47.6% 26.8% 14.6%
South Boston 32 8,069 51.8% 14.2% 17.0%
Virginia Beach 33 445,623 51.2% 29.8% 10.5%
Strasburg 34 6,486 48.9% 35.5% 14.3%
Wytheville 35 8,193 50.1% 20.0% 15.1%
Suffolk 36 85,477 51.5% 44.4% 10.2%
Lynchburg 37 77,626 52.4% 12.8% 12.7%
Radford 38 16,993 58.7% 16.0% 9.6%
Warrenton 39 9,774 47.3% 45.8% 9.4%
Big Stone Gap 40 5,559 45.7% 20.1% 14.3%
Blacksburg 41 43,204 64.3% 8.9% 8.6%
Danville 42 42,704 45.3% 17.7% 14.1%
Staunton 43 24,132 51.0% 24.3% 14.3%
Colonial Heights 44 17,542 44.1% 23.3% 12.1%
Vinton 45 8,129 44.4% 19.7% 13.5%
Bluefield 46 5,375 38.9% 19.4% 18.8%
Falls Church 47 13,074 37.6% 44.9% 4.2%
Marion 48 5,931 44.7% 12.2% 14.9%
Chesapeake 49 228,168 49.3% 35.7% 9.4%
Charlottesville 50 44,505 46.7% 12.4% 11.3%
Ashland 51 7,264 51.9% 24.9% 10.6%
Vienna 52 16,173 33.8% 44.3% 9.6%
Williamsburg 53 14,401 53.4% 18.0% 7.8%
Abingdon 54 8,176 40.3% 19.1% 13.0%
Salem 55 25,120 46.8% 15.3% 11.2%
Galax 56 6,981 34.4% 22.9% 13.9%
Covington 57 5,853 41.8% 23.2% 14.0%
Farmville 58 8,350 42.3% 11.7% 9.3%
Lexington 59 7,114 42.7% 17.3% 6.8%
Bridgewater 60 5,812 46.9% 15.0% 9.8%
Poquoson 61 12,103 42.9% 25.1% 6.9%
Christiansburg 62 21,427 43.3% 16.4% 7.1%
Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

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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