Stressed Out
This Texas ZIP code is one of the most stressed-out in the nation
Think you're stressed? Those of us with Austin-area ZIP codes don't have it nearly as bad as one Texas neighborhood, says real estate blog Movoto.
A new report says Houston-area residents in 77032 live in the eighth most stressed out ZIP code in the nation. Folks who live in the ZIP code (located near Bush Intercontinental Airport) work an average of 39 hours per week, endure a 31-minute commute and make less than $22,500 per year per household, with a staggeringly high 42 percent of them living below the poverty line. No wonder they're stressed.
The Movoto staff first started with a list of all ZIP codes in the nation that had available data from the latest U.S. Census Five Year American Community Survey — 28,371, to be exact, and factored in the following eight criteria to determine the losers — and winners:
- Unemployment rate — the higher, the more stress
- Median household income — the lower, the more stress
- Percent of monthly income spent on rent — the higher, the more stress
- Monthly selected homeowner costs as a percent of income — the higher, the more stress
- Percent of families below the poverty line — the higher, the more stress
- Average commute time — the higher, the more stress
- Percent of population without health insurance — the higher, the more stress
All unemployment figures used were calculated on a five-year average from 2008 to 2012, as reported in The Daily Mail.
Here are the ten most anxiety-ridden ZIP codes:
1. 44093, Williamsfield, Ohio
2. 38647, Michigan City, Mississippi
3. 93640, Mendota, California
4. 36776, Sawyerville, Alabama
5. 38617, Coahoma, Mississippi
6. 37018, Beechgrove, Tennessee
7. 39743, Crawford, Mississippi
8. 77032, Houston, Texas
9. 85172, Stanfield, Arizona
10. 29915, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina
On the other side of the rainbow, where life is free and easy, Movoto declared the following the least stressed ZIP codes in the nation (residents of Bon Wier, near Jasper on the Louisiana/Texas state line are included):
1. 90058, Los Angeles, California
2. 86436, Topock, Arizona
3. 39360, Shubuta, Mississippi
4. 11237, Brooklyn, New York
5. 75928, Bon Wier, Texas
6. 42634, Parkers Lake, Kentucky
7. 95328, Keyes, California
8. 30021, Clarkston, Georgia
9. 92327, Daggett, California
10. 90037, Los Angeles, California
Want to find out the stress level of your ZIP code? Movoto offers this link for the curious.