The Twin Cities Wins America's Most Relaxed U.S. City

Why am I feeling stressed this week at work when the Twin Cities was just named most relaxed city in America? Minneapolis-St. Paul was ranked No.1 least stressful place to live and work this week by Forbes. Places with high unemployment, heavy traffic and long working hours can be physically painful to live in: Stressful environments can take their toll on your health, causing everything from headaches and back pain to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Why is Minneapolis-St. Paul number one? Joblessness isn't the stress-inducer it is elsewhere: at 7 percent, the unemployment rate is well below the 9.6 percent national average. Fewer than 5 percent of workers spend their mornings stuck in traffic, and 84 percent of the population reported recent exercise--the best workout rate of any city we surveyed. The metro also scored well for its high percentage of inhabitants that have medical coverage and good general physical health.

Forty of the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas were examined across the US, measuring them on six metrics that are closely correlated with stress, or that result from stress, or that result from stress. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were reviewed, unemployment ranks were looked at, survey results from the American Community Survey (conducted by the US Census Bureau - this monitored how many commuters spend an hour or more in traffic on the way to work and the average weekly hours people spend at work.)

No. 2 - Milwaukee Wisconsin, because of it's healthy work-life balance and short commute times.

Other cities that made the grade for just their residents love the outdoors are: Portland, OR (No. 4); Denver, CO (No. 6); Seattle, WA (No. 7); and San Jose, CA (No. 10).