Stressed Out In Houston
Houston neighborhood named one of the most stressed-out ZIP Codes in the nation — here's why
If you think you're underpaid, suffer an almost unbearably long commute each work day and too often wonder about your financial future, you must live near Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Houston-area residents in 77032 live in the eighth most stressful ZIP Code in the nation, according to a survey from the real estate blog Movoto.
Folks who live in the ZIP Code roughly bounded by Aldine Bender Road to the south, East Hardy Road to the west, Highway 59 to the east and the 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 per cent of them living below the poverty line.
No wonder they're stressed.
The Movoto staff first started a list of all ZIP Codes in the nation that had available data from the latest U.S. Census — 28,371, to be exact, and factored in the following eight criteria (noise pollution wasn't one of them) in their methodology 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.
If No. 8 sounds bad, here are the other anxiety-ridden ZIP Codes in the finding:
1. 44093, Williamsfield, Ohio
2. 38647, Michigan City, Miss.
3. 93640, Mendota, Calif.
4. 36776, Sawyerville, Ala.
5. 38617, Coahoma, Miss.
6. 37018, Beechgrove, Tenn.
7. 39743, Crawford, Miss.
9. 85172, Stanfield, Ariz.
10. 29915, Daufuskie Island, S.C.
On the other side of the rainbow, where life is free and easy, Movoto declared the following as the least stressed Zip Codes in the nation. Surprisingly residents of Bon Wier, near Jasper on the Louisiana Texas state line, are among the least stressed:
1. 90058, Los Angeles, Calif.
2. 86436, Topock, Ariz.
3. 39360, Shubuta, Miss.
4. 11237, Brooklyn, N.Y.
5. 75928, Bon Wier, Texas
6. 42634, Parkers Lake, Ky.
7. 95328, Keyes, Calif.
8. 30021, Clarkston, Ga.
9. 92327, Daggett, Calif.
10. 90037, Los Angeles, Calif.
Want to find out the stress - or not so stressful - level of your Zip Code? Motovo offers this link for the curious.
