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Life can be pretty stressful. Hardships like struggling to find a job, searching for an affordable place to live or even paying off credit card debt or student loans can increase stress levels and leave many people feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. Depending on where you live, you may have a higher chance of being stressed than those who live somewhere else.
WalletHub analyzed some of the most populated cities around the country to determine which are the most and least stressed in 2025 based on a variety of factors, from health and safety to work and family. Featured on the list are two spots in South Carolina, both of which were among the least stressed locales in America:
- No. 98: Columbia
- No. 171: Charleston
While Columbia appears as the most stressed South Carolina city on the list, it still ranked in the lower half, making it among the least stressed cities in the entire country.
These the are 10 most stressed cities in the U.S.:
- Detroit, Michigan
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Gulfport, Mississippi
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Shreveport, Louisiana
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Toledo, Ohio
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Jackson, Mississippi
To determine its ranking, WalletHub compared 182 cities around the U.S. across four factors: work stress, financial stress, family stress and health & safety stress. These factors were then evaluated using 39 relevant metrics, including average weekly work hours, job security, unemployment rate, median annual household income, poverty rate, food insecurity, housing affordability, separation & divorce rate, chid care cost, mental health, suicide rate, share of adults in fair or poor health, crime rate and more.
See the full report at wallethub.com to read up on the most stressed cities in the country. You can also check out our previous coverage of the South Carolina locale crowned the "most charming small city" in the state.