Maybe NJ isn’t as stressful as we think — Forever 39 Podcast

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New Jersey can be a pretty stressful place to live. It's home to expensive housing costs, congested roadways and a high pace of life. These three factors alone can induce stress in even the most laid-back person. So it might come as a surprise that New Jersey doesn't even rank in the top 20 as the most stressed states in the U.S.

In this Forever 39 episode, we take a look at stress in New Jersey and why life in the great Garden State might be a lot more ideal when compared to our neighbors.

In a recent report from WalletHub that takes a look at the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 38 key indicators of stress, New Jersey ranks as the 31st most stressed state. Louisiana ranks as the most stressed state, and Minnesota is the least.

The 38 key indicators that the report looks at are divided into four categories:

• Work-related stress
• Money-related stress
• Family-related stress
• Health and safety-related stress

The work-related stress category looks at things like the average of hours people in each state work per week, the unemployment rate, and the average commute time to and from work. Not surprisingly, this is New Jersey's weakest-scoring category. The Garden State ranks sixth for having the highest work-related stress rank. We guess it's a good thing WalletHub took a look at other factors or our overall stress ranking would have been a lot worse.

In the money-related stress category, the report looked at the number of people worried about money, median income and debt. Of the four categories, this is New Jersey's best-scoring one, with the Garden State coming in 43rd as the least stressed state for money-related stress.

Another bright spot for New Jersey is its family-related stress ranking. Coming in 35th, New Jersey scores well on factors like parental stress, divorce rate, and parental-leave policies. In fact, New Jersey's divorce rate is the second lowest in the country.

New Jersey's ranking in the health and safety-related stress category is a bit of a mixed bag. While the state has the 48th lowest crime rate per capita, the state's suicide rate continues to rise. This category also looks at unaffordability of doctor visits, infrastructure quality, and the number of hate crimes. Overall, our ranking in this category is 26th.

So while there's certainly a lot to be stressed about living life in New Jersey, perhaps living here isn't so bad after all. Click on the map below to see the rankings of other states.

What do you find most stressful about living in New Jersey? Taxes? Traffic? Rude people? Email us what stresses you out the most about living in New Jersey at forever39@nj1015.com.

Also from this week's Forever 39 podcast — How long sex really lasts. PLUS: Is it time to say goodbye to high school reunions? Click on the podcast player above to hear the entire episode. Share your thoughts on all of them below, on Twitter, on Facebook or at forever39@nj1015.com.

— Annette and Megan, Forever 39

Join us for next week's podcast when we discuss selfitis, homeownership versus renting in New Jersey, and airline fares.