These Are The 10 Stressed Places In Louisiana

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

And there are certain places in Louisiana 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 Louisiana take being stressed to the next level?

It turns out the good people of Jeanerette have earned the dubious distinction of being the most stressed out place in Louisiana. The city is at the top of the pack of the 10 most stressed out places in the Pelican State:

1. Jeanerette
2. Walker
3. Kenner
4. Gretna
5. Bastrop
6. Bogalusa
7. Westwego
8. Hammond
9. New Orleans
10. Baker

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

How We Measured Stress In Louisiana (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 64 places in Louisiana 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 are, 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 64 (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 Pelican 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 64 places we analyzed.

1. Jeanerette

Population: 5,547People With High Rent: 48.4%
People With Long Commute: 30.0%
People Without Insurance: 23.1%

2. Walker

Population: 6,176People With High Rent: 43.9%
People With Long Commute: 62.4%
People Without Insurance: 26.6%

3. Kenner

Population: 66,926People With High Rent: 50.5%
People With Long Commute: 34.6%
People Without Insurance: 22.1%

4. Gretna

Population: 17,801People With High Rent: 51.3%
People With Long Commute: 31.0%
People Without Insurance: 21.1%

5. Bastrop

Population: 11,075People With High Rent: 45.0%
People With Long Commute: 39.1%
People Without Insurance: 27.8%

6. Bogalusa

Population: 12,071People With High Rent: 57.6%
People With Long Commute: 26.4%
People Without Insurance: 18.7%

7. Westwego

Population: 8,531People With High Rent: 49.3%
People With Long Commute: 27.9%
People Without Insurance: 15.5%

8. Hammond

Population: 20,207People With High Rent: 55.2%
People With Long Commute: 29.1%
People Without Insurance: 20.1%

9. New Orleans

Population: 368,471People With High Rent: 55.2%
People With Long Commute: 28.9%
People Without Insurance: 17.8%

10. Baker

Population: 13,838People With High Rent: 54.7%
People With Long Commute: 41.4%
People Without Insurance: 17.4%

Detailed List Of Stressed Places In Louisiana

City	Rank	Population	People With High Rent	People With Long Commute	People Without Insurance
Jeanerette	1	5,547	48.4%	30.0%	23.1%
Walker	2	6,176	43.9%	62.4%	26.6%
Kenner	3	66,926	50.5%	34.6%	22.1%
Gretna	4	17,801	51.3%	31.0%	21.1%
Bastrop	5	11,075	45.0%	39.1%	27.8%
Bogalusa	6	12,071	57.6%	26.4%	18.7%
Westwego	7	8,531	49.3%	27.9%	15.5%
Hammond	8	20,207	55.2%	29.1%	20.1%
New Orleans	9	368,471	55.2%	28.9%	17.8%
Baker	10	13,838	54.7%	41.4%	17.4%
Tallulah	11	7,267	46.5%	11.3%	36.9%
Abbeville	12	12,341	43.3%	32.8%	19.0%
Mansfield	13	5,012	51.6%	38.6%	17.1%
Slidell	14	27,372	52.8%	41.2%	17.2%
Donaldsonville	15	7,507	54.1%	46.2%	13.9%
Denham Springs	16	10,148	39.7%	42.4%	20.7%
Ville Platte	17	7,336	62.1%	21.8%	17.2%
Franklin	18	7,483	52.1%	25.0%	20.0%
Opelousas	19	16,668	55.7%	20.9%	19.5%
Gonzales	20	10,137	53.8%	30.4%	21.3%
Crowley	21	13,219	40.9%	21.9%	18.9%
Monroe	22	49,455	51.9%	9.5%	26.5%
Mandeville	23	12,102	52.3%	36.3%	17.6%
Grambling	24	5,015	48.8%	16.3%	30.7%
Springhill	25	5,239	43.9%	30.4%	21.6%
Richwood	26	5,846	56.7%	12.6%	32.4%
Breaux Bridge	27	8,232	53.0%	31.1%	15.5%
Baton Rouge	28	229,353	53.5%	22.1%	16.4%
New Iberia	29	30,750	41.4%	19.6%	17.4%
Jennings	30	10,265	49.3%	29.7%	17.3%
West Monroe	31	13,073	54.5%	18.2%	22.0%
Thibodaux	32	14,570	47.7%	30.8%	17.0%
Rayne	33	7,984	33.0%	37.1%	20.4%
Natchitoches	34	18,460	59.9%	11.4%	21.4%
Alexandria	35	47,983	56.2%	12.6%	16.6%
Eunice	36	10,325	39.8%	28.5%	20.9%
Minden	37	12,988	46.1%	22.9%	21.2%
DeRidder	38	10,846	44.9%	30.8%	17.5%
Ruston	39	22,149	55.2%	17.5%	17.2%
St. Martinville	40	6,109	53.5%	19.8%	15.2%
Covington	41	9,151	54.4%	33.2%	17.2%
Shreveport	42	200,692	48.4%	15.1%	18.0%
Lake Charles	43	73,503	46.7%	11.7%	17.4%
Morgan City	44	12,153	34.3%	12.5%	20.3%
Lafayette	45	123,528	47.5%	18.6%	17.4%
Carencro	46	8,084	30.1%	33.2%	19.6%
Houma	47	33,807	38.7%	21.3%	16.9%
Marksville	48	5,635	46.3%	15.1%	25.8%
Patterson	49	6,100	33.9%	21.5%	15.8%
Harahan	50	9,324	49.6%	27.9%	12.7%
Sulphur	51	20,275	45.9%	10.2%	16.6%
Ponchatoula	52	6,751	42.2%	33.8%	11.1%
Leesville	53	6,656	36.7%	13.3%	19.3%
Port Allen	54	5,150	43.8%	18.6%	19.1%
Bossier City	55	64,895	46.8%	13.8%	14.8%
Central	56	27,505	48.5%	46.3%	9.4%
Zachary	57	15,579	44.1%	48.2%	9.0%
Plaquemine	58	7,055	25.5%	35.4%	12.2%
St. Gabriel	59	6,796	25.0%	37.3%	13.7%
Pineville	60	14,486	37.8%	8.1%	16.5%
Oakdale	61	7,741	30.0%	28.4%	13.6%
Scott	62	8,775	39.2%	26.6%	12.4%
Broussard	63	9,041	42.4%	24.2%	11.4%
Youngsville	64	9,358	6.8%	22.6%	6.6%