These Are The 10 Stressed Places In Alaska

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:

1. Houston
2. Meadow Lakes
3. Palmer
4. Tanaina
5. Knik-Fairview
6. Wasilla
7. Soldotna
8. Anchor Point
9. Lakes
10. Fairbanks

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

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:

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 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	Population	People With High Rent	People With Long Commute	People Without Insurance
Houston	1	2,058	46.8%	49.1%	22.1%
Meadow Lakes	2	7,139	53.5%	34.9%	22.6%
Palmer	3	6,250	51.1%	40.0%	18.8%
Tanaina	4	9,391	50.6%	43.5%	19.5%
Knik-Fairview	5	15,797	40.7%	55.4%	18.1%
Wasilla	6	8,406	48.7%	37.5%	18.5%
Soldotna	7	4,345	43.8%	14.3%	18.1%
Anchor Point	8	2,189	47.2%	34.1%	25.3%
Lakes	9	9,345	37.2%	39.8%	16.8%
Fairbanks	10	32,100	55.9%	5.5%	15.5%
Ketchikan	11	8,173	45.0%	4.5%	22.5%
Kenai	12	7,348	37.4%	5.4%	24.0%
Badger	13	21,175	52.7%	26.9%	15.2%
Homer	14	5,229	49.6%	5.0%	23.9%
Sterling	15	5,748	50.2%	18.7%	16.7%
Butte	16	3,544	37.3%	53.4%	20.4%
Kodiak	17	6,280	44.1%	3.6%	28.0%
Big Lake	18	3,959	35.2%	47.9%	19.3%
Seward	19	2,646	39.5%	4.0%	21.0%
Nome	20	3,745	33.7%	0.8%	23.1%
Kalifornsky	21	7,806	30.9%	19.6%	17.0%
Bear Creek	22	2,399	24.3%	10.7%	23.7%
Kotzebue	23	3,273	20.8%	2.3%	27.3%
Anchorage	24	298,178	44.9%	17.0%	16.3%
Barrow	25	4,296	18.0%	0.2%	30.7%
Ridgeway	26	2,128	22.2%	14.5%	15.5%
Dillingham	27	2,255	31.9%	4.4%	22.7%
North Pole	28	2,153	43.5%	23.0%	8.7%
Nikiski	29	4,536	20.5%	29.3%	19.5%
College	30	14,568	36.9%	10.6%	14.7%
Gateway	31	5,367	36.7%	38.4%	13.1%
Cordova	32	2,637	31.3%	1.7%	30.8%
Chena Ridge	33	5,671	42.6%	26.9%	13.4%
Fishhook	34	5,015	23.3%	37.4%	19.5%
Bethel	35	6,295	30.0%	3.8%	17.5%
Steele Creek	36	6,180	47.3%	15.7%	14.7%
Wrangell	37	2,383	44.5%	2.9%	21.3%
Sitka	38	8,957	44.2%	6.9%	19.7%
Valdez	39	4,002	33.3%	3.5%	13.6%
Eielson AFB	40	2,647	41.2%	9.5%	3.1%
Unalaska	41	4,536	19.6%	0.0%	23.3%
Ester	42	2,653	12.2%	28.7%	14.1%
Farmers Loop	43	4,062	21.6%	9.1%	12.6%
Goldstream	44	3,910	21.5%	32.5%	15.1%
Juneau	45	32,200	40.1%	7.6%	16.2%
Deltana	46	2,122	34.0%	6.8%	16.3%
Prudhoe Bay	47	2,570	0.0%	2.1%	10.3%

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