These Are The 10 Stressed Places In Alaska
We analyzed over 47 places in Alaska to identify the ones that are going grey at a young age.
You know that tight feeling in your chest when you start a new job? That’s stress.
And there are certain places in Alaska 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 Alaska take being stressed to the next level?
It turns out the good people of Houston have earned the dubious distinction of being the most stressed out place in Alaska. The city is at the top of the pack of the 10 most stressed out places in the Last Frontier:
Read on to see why these places in Alaska could use a Xanax.
For more AK reading, check out:
How We Measured Stress In Alaska (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 47 places in Alaska with a population over 2,000 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 47 (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 Last Frontier.
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 47 places we analyzed.
1. Houston
Population: 2,058People With High Rent: 46.8%
People With Long Commute: 49.1%
People Without Insurance: 22.1%
2. Meadow Lakes
Population: 7,139People With High Rent: 53.5%
People With Long Commute: 34.9%
People Without Insurance: 22.6%
3. Palmer
Population: 6,250People With High Rent: 51.1%
People With Long Commute: 40.0%
People Without Insurance: 18.8%
4. Tanaina
Population: 9,391 People With High Rent: 50.6%
People With Long Commute: 43.5%
People Without Insurance: 19.5%
5. Knik-Fairview
Population: 15,797 People With High Rent: 40.7%
People With Long Commute: 55.4%
People Without Insurance: 18.1%
6. Wasilla
Population: 8,406People With High Rent: 48.7%
People With Long Commute: 37.5%
People Without Insurance: 18.5%
7. Soldotna
Population: 4,345People With High Rent: 43.8%
People With Long Commute: 14.3%
People Without Insurance: 18.1%
8. Anchor Point
Population: 2,189 People With High Rent: 47.2%
People With Long Commute: 34.1%
People Without Insurance: 25.3%
9. Lakes
Population: 9,345 People With High Rent: 37.2%
People With Long Commute: 39.8%
People Without Insurance: 16.8%
10. Fairbanks
Population: 32,100People With High Rent: 55.9%
People With Long Commute: 5.5%
People Without Insurance: 15.5%
Detailed List Of Stressed Places In Alaska
| City | Rank |
|---|---|
| Houston | 1 |
| Meadow Lakes | 2 |
| Palmer | 3 |
| Tanaina | 4 |
| Knik-Fairview | 5 |
| Wasilla | 6 |
| Soldotna | 7 |
| Anchor Point | 8 |
| Lakes | 9 |
| Fairbanks | 10 |
| Ketchikan | 11 |
| Kenai | 12 |
| Badger | 13 |
| Homer | 14 |
| Sterling | 15 |
| Butte | 16 |
| Kodiak | 17 |
| Big Lake | 18 |
| Seward | 19 |
| Nome | 20 |
| Kalifornsky | 21 |
| Bear Creek | 22 |
| Kotzebue | 23 |
| Anchorage | 24 |
| Barrow | 25 |
| Ridgeway | 26 |
| Dillingham | 27 |
| North Pole | 28 |
| Nikiski | 29 |
| College | 30 |
| Gateway | 31 |
| Cordova | 32 |
| Chena Ridge | 33 |
| Fishhook | 34 |
| Bethel | 35 |
| Steele Creek | 36 |
| Wrangell | 37 |
| Sitka | 38 |
| Valdez | 39 |
| Eielson AFB | 40 |
| Unalaska | 41 |
| Ester | 42 |
| Farmers Loop | 43 |
| Goldstream | 44 |
| Juneau | 45 |
| Deltana | 46 |
| Prudhoe Bay | 47 |
