These Are The 10 Stressed Places In North Carolina

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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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina take being stressed to the next level?

It turns out the good people of Selma have earned the dubious distinction of being the most stressed out place in North Carolina. The city is at the top of the pack of the 10 most stressed out places in the Tar Heel State:

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

For more NC reading, check out:

How We Measured Stress In North Carolina (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 132 places in North Carolina 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 132 (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 Tar Heel 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 132 places we analyzed.

1. Selma

Population: 6,172People With High Rent: 56.8%
People With Long Commute: 50.5%
People Without Insurance: 32.9%

2. Roxboro

Population: 8,330People With High Rent: 61.3%
People With Long Commute: 31.3%
People Without Insurance: 24.3%

3. Siler City

Population: 8,109People With High Rent: 46.9%
People With Long Commute: 41.8%
People Without Insurance: 28.7%

4. Bessemer City

Population: 5,410People With High Rent: 57.4%
People With Long Commute: 33.0%
People Without Insurance: 27.7%

5. Henderson

Population: 15,325People With High Rent: 58.1%
People With Long Commute: 22.9%
People Without Insurance: 19.1%

6. Pineville

Population: 7,855People With High Rent: 60.9%
People With Long Commute: 35.1%
People Without Insurance: 24.7%

7. Monroe

Population: 33,588People With High Rent: 54.3%
People With Long Commute: 35.4%
People Without Insurance: 25.1%

8. Gastonia

Population: 72,664People With High Rent: 54.9%
People With Long Commute: 31.5%
People Without Insurance: 18.4%

9. Elizabeth City

Population: 18,343People With High Rent: 54.9%
People With Long Commute: 20.3%
People Without Insurance: 21.5%

10. Lincolnton

Population: 10,601People With High Rent: 52.8%
People With Long Commute: 32.9%
People Without Insurance: 17.8%

Detailed List Of Stressed Places In North Carolina

City	Rank	Population	People With High Rent	People With Long Commute	People Without Insurance
Selma	1	6,172	56.8%	50.5%	32.9%
Roxboro	2	8,330	61.3%	31.3%	24.3%
Siler City	3	8,109	46.9%	41.8%	28.7%
Bessemer City	4	5,410	57.4%	33.0%	27.7%
Henderson	5	15,325	58.1%	22.9%	19.1%
Pineville	6	7,855	60.9%	35.1%	24.7%
Monroe	7	33,588	54.3%	35.4%	25.1%
Gastonia	8	72,664	54.9%	31.5%	18.4%
Elizabeth City	9	18,343	54.9%	20.3%	21.5%
Lincolnton	10	10,601	52.8%	32.9%	17.8%
Eden	11	15,543	48.0%	33.3%	18.5%
Kannapolis	12	43,865	46.4%	33.2%	19.9%
Wadesboro	13	5,711	44.8%	34.0%	24.2%
Carolina Beach	14	5,888	44.9%	40.0%	17.5%
Thomasville	15	27,042	46.8%	28.8%	18.3%
Dunn	16	9,570	48.1%	25.5%	20.8%
Charlotte	17	774,807	47.0%	32.0%	17.3%
Fuquay-Varina	18	20,246	43.7%	53.2%	16.7%
Lexington	19	19,029	44.7%	29.2%	22.7%
Asheboro	20	25,573	49.2%	24.7%	22.6%
Indian Trail	21	34,950	49.9%	46.4%	14.5%
Ayden	22	5,018	44.0%	24.3%	24.1%
Statesville	23	25,132	53.9%	23.0%	18.8%
High Point	24	106,797	50.2%	20.6%	17.8%
Burlington	25	51,740	52.6%	22.7%	17.7%
Wilson	26	49,389	50.6%	19.4%	17.6%
Rocky Mount	27	57,071	56.5%	19.1%	15.7%
Smithfield	28	11,357	51.5%	28.8%	20.0%
Lenoir	29	18,061	58.2%	25.5%	16.4%
Shelby	30	20,283	60.5%	23.4%	16.4%
Concord	31	82,266	44.2%	36.1%	15.9%
Albemarle	32	15,924	55.2%	26.8%	17.5%
Salisbury	33	33,524	49.3%	21.2%	16.5%
Matthews	34	28,677	56.9%	41.5%	10.0%
Graham	35	14,384	44.8%	24.6%	22.8%
Hamlet	36	6,566	41.3%	23.6%	18.7%
Clayton	37	17,274	48.9%	41.1%	14.1%
Sanford	38	28,798	43.0%	29.8%	20.4%
Boiling Spring Lakes	39	5,529	57.4%	39.1%	18.1%
Stallings	40	14,185	54.9%	47.6%	9.0%
Oxford	41	8,585	41.7%	31.1%	13.8%
Mount Holly	42	13,815	42.7%	37.6%	14.9%
Laurinburg	43	15,799	50.5%	23.4%	13.8%
Ahoskie	44	5,017	50.2%	21.8%	16.4%
Garner	45	26,723	41.2%	34.8%	16.2%
Hendersonville	46	13,350	54.1%	14.4%	17.6%
Marion	47	7,948	43.3%	20.2%	16.0%
Kinston	48	21,589	52.1%	14.7%	17.4%
Winston-Salem	49	234,469	50.6%	17.1%	17.5%
Hope Mills	50	16,024	46.2%	30.0%	12.1%
New Bern	51	30,171	48.5%	22.2%	17.0%
Boone	52	17,802	76.4%	8.3%	6.6%
Jacksonville	53	69,300	52.4%	21.7%	10.3%
Raleigh	54	423,287	48.4%	23.9%	15.0%
Kings Mountain	55	10,743	44.2%	30.6%	16.5%
Roanoke Rapids	56	15,653	59.9%	18.1%	13.4%
Goldsboro	57	35,908	48.0%	19.3%	13.0%
Forest City	58	7,387	45.2%	23.4%	17.6%
Williamston	59	5,410	36.3%	23.8%	16.9%
Durham	60	240,107	48.5%	22.7%	16.3%
Mooresville	61	34,466	40.5%	32.2%	11.7%
Greenville	62	87,546	53.8%	15.8%	13.2%
Winterville	63	9,424	65.0%	19.1%	10.4%
Wilmington	64	110,100	53.4%	13.8%	16.0%
Newton	65	12,998	59.8%	14.2%	19.2%
Greensboro	66	276,225	48.3%	19.6%	16.3%
Lumberton	67	21,707	50.6%	21.7%	19.3%
Elon	68	9,516	61.6%	28.7%	6.1%
Mocksville	69	5,086	55.4%	34.5%	15.4%
Oak Island	70	7,051	54.8%	30.0%	17.5%
Rockingham	71	9,444	52.2%	16.0%	14.1%
Knightdale	72	12,692	31.3%	37.3%	17.9%
Morganton	73	16,816	54.4%	21.1%	18.2%
Waxhaw	74	10,878	49.9%	50.7%	7.8%
Fayetteville	75	202,421	45.8%	17.6%	14.1%
Havelock	76	20,850	50.5%	14.1%	16.5%
Whiteville	77	5,465	47.3%	15.6%	17.6%
Clinton	78	8,729	48.5%	19.7%	15.9%
Cherryville	79	5,826	42.4%	32.6%	12.1%
Wendell	80	6,085	51.3%	45.6%	11.1%
Cornelius	81	26,246	32.1%	42.3%	11.6%
Brevard	82	7,651	43.2%	28.0%	14.9%
Washington	83	9,768	48.8%	16.8%	12.4%
Wake Forest	84	33,319	39.5%	48.0%	8.2%
Tarboro	85	11,323	40.0%	22.0%	17.7%
Spring Lake	86	13,101	49.3%	18.0%	16.1%
Carrboro	87	20,337	44.5%	24.2%	15.3%
Black Mountain	88	7,977	51.5%	18.2%	19.3%
Waynesville	89	9,770	43.8%	26.9%	18.9%
Woodfin	90	6,167	54.9%	14.9%	21.2%
Mint Hill	91	23,934	44.5%	49.3%	10.5%
Mebane	92	12,509	34.8%	41.3%	9.2%
Southern Pines	93	12,782	55.5%	25.5%	9.5%
Mount Airy	94	10,411	45.2%	25.0%	12.2%
Morehead City	95	9,030	41.8%	13.7%	20.8%
Nashville	96	5,469	34.1%	24.4%	11.8%
Kernersville	97	23,522	46.3%	24.7%	12.5%
Reidsville	98	14,249	44.6%	30.8%	10.0%
Butner	99	7,661	41.1%	35.8%	16.6%
Chapel Hill	100	58,379	52.6%	20.3%	7.8%
Belmont	101	10,346	45.3%	25.5%	12.9%
Harrisburg	102	13,549	39.4%	39.7%	8.9%
Huntersville	103	49,279	36.6%	38.2%	10.1%
Asheville	104	85,783	42.4%	11.8%	16.8%
Hickory	105	40,108	41.3%	17.6%	17.7%
Gibsonville	106	6,565	36.9%	32.1%	10.1%
Kill Devil Hills	107	6,810	35.6%	22.1%	19.6%
Holly Springs	108	27,339	20.0%	44.9%	5.6%
Archdale	109	11,322	37.0%	23.3%	13.4%
Wesley Chapel	110	7,882	43.3%	49.3%	5.5%
Leland	111	15,316	47.9%	27.4%	10.8%
King	112	6,732	44.9%	29.2%	7.6%
Apex	113	40,631	32.2%	29.4%	7.4%
Cary	114	146,041	39.9%	23.1%	10.0%
Clemmons	115	19,101	50.7%	19.1%	8.7%
Davidson	116	11,492	36.1%	29.4%	6.5%
Sawmills	117	5,164	40.5%	20.5%	18.0%
Unionville	118	6,180	53.2%	47.5%	7.7%
Stokesdale	119	5,177	33.3%	49.7%	12.4%
Hillsborough	120	6,256	45.4%	23.3%	8.4%
Aberdeen	121	6,702	32.9%	23.1%	17.9%
Marvin	122	5,806	21.1%	49.5%	1.5%
Weddington	123	9,906	0.0%	55.2%	6.4%
Pinehurst	124	15,052	43.1%	25.9%	3.4%
Morrisville	125	20,728	25.4%	18.6%	7.4%
Fletcher	126	7,320	45.0%	16.5%	9.5%
Lewisville	127	13,037	33.8%	24.0%	6.4%
Conover	128	8,200	27.1%	14.6%	14.8%
Trinity	129	6,648	39.6%	20.4%	13.7%
Summerfield	130	10,477	27.8%	32.6%	2.6%
Oak Ridge	131	6,435	19.9%	35.6%	3.4%
Mills River	132	6,917	37.3%	25.5%	9.2%

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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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