A new study came out from Zippia that claims New Jersey is the 2nd most stressed out state in the country.

When you look at the criteria and the raw data it’s no wonder. For a second, let’s put aside the huge amount of stress that the pandemic brought to all of us, that is a major factor that affected most of the population in every state in the country.

New Jersey is the 2nd most stressed-out state because:

— We have the most densely populated state. People are on top each other and not necessarily in a good way.

— People in New Jersey work longer hours and get in their cars and have longer commutes with congested highways.

— People in New Jersey have a high home price to income ratio, throw in the high property taxes and you can forget about your home being a safe haven from the work stress that you experience.

These are some of the factors that cause quite a bit of stress for New Jersey residents.

If you add the results from suffering from a pandemic while it reduced congestion on the roadways and many of New Jersey’s workforce worked from their homes, which is a positive, the stress level still went through the roof. Uncertainty at the workplace, salary cuts, layoffs and child day care became the conduits to adding to an already overburdened and stressed-out New Jerseyan.

Overall in this country, as of 2022, a whopping 84% of Americans report feeling stressed on a weekly basis. The study also shows that before you walk through the front door of your business or workplace 12% of U.S. workers with long commutes are stressed out before they arrive at the workplace. Throw your day to day stress of your job on top of that and that’s pretty intense.

If New Jersey is the 2nd most stressed out state, who’s number 1? Florida is the most stressed out state in the country. I wouldn’t have guessed that. With Florida having 13% of uninsured residents and unemployment rate of 3% they get the nod of stressed out state. Iowa is the least stressed out state in the nation with a low uninsured rate of only 4% and an average commute time of 19 minutes, things are hunky dory there in Iowa.

How do we cope with the stress that we have?

Here in New Jersey we are blessed to have some of the best beaches in the country, the boardwalks, parks, the different resources like the Liberty Science Center or the many museums that are sprinkled throughout the state. New Jersey isn’t short on great places to chill. I love the food and the music scene. It’s also great to catch a minor league baseball game where the prices are reasonable and the entertainment enjoyable. We have a beautiful Monmouth Park Race track in Oceanport, Atlantic City, Wildwood and Cape May.

We have to work harder to relieve stress here in New Jersey because we have many stress obstacles that make us feel sometimes like we’re stuck in the mud. Utilize the resources that we have here in New Jersey to take a deep breath that will hope you cope with the stress that you may be experiencing. Reach out to get some professional help if it’s too overwhelming. Remember you’re Jersey strong! Good luck!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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