Not every city is built for peace of mind, so where can Americans catch a break?
To mark National Relaxation Day on Aug. 15, LawnStarter ranked 2023’s Most Relaxed Cities.
We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 42 stress factors and stress relievers. More specifically, we factored in metrics like depression rates, the average length of a workday, and access to spas and massage therapists.
See how chill (or tense) your city is in our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the cities, see our methodology.
Contents
- City Rankings + Infographic
- Top 5 Close Up
- Key Insights
- Ask the Experts
- Behind the Ranking
- Find Peace in Your Backyard — Literally
City Rankings + Infographic
See how each city fared in our ranking:
Top 5 Close Up
Check out the slideshow below for highlights on each of our top five cities.
Mental Well-Being Rank: 1
Physical Well-Being Rank: 1
Financial Well-Being Rank: 6
Work Stressors Rank: 87
Social Stressors Rank: 2
Photo Credit: Dileep Eduri / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0
Mental Well-Being Rank: 5
Mental Health Boosters Rank: 3
Work Stressors Rank: 156
Environmental Stressors Rank: 12
Recreation Options Rank: 1
Photo Credit: Juan Salamanca / Pexels / Pexels License
Mental Well-Being Rank: 11
Mental Health Boosters Rank: 2
Physical Well-Being Rank: 17
Financial Well-Being Rank: 25
Work Stressors Rank: 149
Photo Credit: Mark Stenglein / Unsplash / Unsplash License
Mental Well-Being Rank: 3
Mental Health Boosters Rank: 9
Physical Well-Being Rank: 7
Financial Well-Being Rank: 1
Environmental Stressors Rank: 168
Photo Credit: David Jakes / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Mental Well-Being Rank: 4
Physical Well-Being Rank: 2
Work Stressors Rank: 140
Environmental Stressors Rank: 21
Social Stressors Rank: 1
Photo Credit: Sreenivas / Unsplash / Unsplash License
Key Insights
The Gist
“California chillin’” might as well replace “California dreamin’” as the unofficial motto of the Golden State. Half of our top 10 and nearly half of our top 25 are made up of California cities, with Sunnyvale in the lead overall.
One stark trend emerged from our ranking: Relaxation follows the money — literally with body movement. Our best performers include high-income California cities and a handful of wealthy suburbs like Alexandria, Virginia, Naperville, Illinois, and Overland Park, Kansas, that also are in top physical form.
The opposite is true of many of the worst cities for relaxation. Financial insecurity appears to hinder lower-income Southern cities like Shreveport, Louisiana, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, along with Midwestern city Cleveland, from catching a break. Detroit finished last overall. Over the past 60 years, Motor City has struggled to recover from steep population and economic declines.
Standout Stats
Zen State of Mind
- Relatively lower access to mental health resources may not be a big barrier to relaxation in cities like Sunnyvale, California (No. 1 overall), San Jose, California (No. 5), and Honolulu (No. 20). Residents from each of these cities experience minimal “off” days, mental stress, and depression.
Mental Breakdown
- Mental health providers appear to be most needed in cities like West Valley City, Utah (No. 114 overall), Laredo, Texas (No. 150), North Las Vegas, Nevada (No. 168), and Moreno Valley, California (No. 143). More residents in each of these cities suffer from high rates of mental distress, depression, and — except in Laredo — suicide.
City of Darkness
- Despite some of the lowest rates of mental stress, depression, and inadequate sleep, Anchorage, Alaska (No. 50 overall), has a dark side. The city ironically nicknamed The City of Lights and Flowers has the 9th-highest suicide rate among the 200 biggest cities. This tracks with a wider trend: Alaska has the highest suicide rate per capita in the nation.
Be Water
- Although we didn’t factor in access to bodies of water, most of the cities that dominated our Recreation category are coastal or water-adjacent. They include cities like San Francisco (No. 2 overall), forming part of the Bay Area, Miami (No. 44), a vacation hotspot for beach lovers, and Minneapolis (No. 16), nicknamed the City of Lakes for a reason.
Old Motor
- Detroit’s motor needs a reset. Motor City finished last overall and last or near the very bottom in the Financial Well-Being, Environmental Stressors, Physical Well-Being, and Environmental Stressors categories. Relatively fewer Work Stressors (No. 76) and more Recreation Options (No. 95) keep the city from a total meltdown. Detroit has the highest rates of both inadequate sleep and stroke among the 200 biggest cities.
Weeded Out
- Besides wealth, cannabis appears to help Californians loosen up. Golden State cities make up 13 of our 20 most stoner-friendly cities, with San Francisco (No. 3 overall) leading all 200 of the biggest cities in this metric. Half of those 13 California cities also ranked among our top 50 overall.
Exercise More, Sleep Better
- Exercise is known to minimize stress hormones, maximize endorphins, and improve sleep. That’s perhaps why 17 of the 25 cities with the highest leisure physical activity rates also placed among our top 25 overall and get the most sleep. Washington state cities Bellevue (No. 9 overall) and Seattle (No. 7) lead the leisure-friendly group with the highest and 2nd-highest rates, respectively.
Regional Pampering
- Coastal cities appear to invest more in beauty and spa businesses compared with flyover country. Except for Naperville, Illinois (No. 4 overall), our 30 best cities for this metric are on the East and West coasts, with Paterson, New Jersey (No. 126 overall) offering the most options per square mile. Midwestern and Texas cities, meanwhile, dominate the opposite end of our ranking for this metric, with Columbus, Ohio (No. 145), coming in last.
Ask The Experts
To help our readers combat anxiety, we reached out to experts for the best ways to chill. See what they had to say below.
- What are the three best ways to relax while working from home, where boundaries between personal and professional life often can blur?
- What are your top three relaxation strategies for people with the most stressful jobs — ER doctors, firefighters, and therapists, for example — to help them reset?
- What makes for a “Most Relaxed City” in your book? Less traffic or work stress? More parks? A wellness/fitness culture? Lots of dogs, cats, and other pets?
- As an expert on relaxation, how do you personally decompress, destress, and ease your mind?
What are the three best ways to relax while working from home, where boundaries between personal and professional life often can blur?
Even when busy with work, and perhaps children at home, a window of time each day to sit and reflect is critical.
1. It boils down to mindfulness and being present in the moment. Research shows chronic stress and depressed mood are associated with reduced volume of hippocampus in the brain — a structure associated with mood, learning, and memory.
2. Exercise (even if only brief) increases blood flow to the brain and releases endorphins in the body (like runner’s high). This may be something you do in your house or even working in the yard.
3. Maintain a work-life balance. Working from home tends to encourage on-demand access to the employee, but it doesn’t have to. Set firm limits, spend time with your family, and take time for yourself when you can reflect and process the day, even if briefly.
What are your top three relaxation strategies for people with the most stressful jobs — ER doctors, firefighters, and therapists, for example — to help them reset?
Mindfulness techniques such as those mentioned above are critical, but it also needs to be something that fits the individual’s lifestyle.
Being able to process a hectic workday is important.
Make time for yourself, even if for 15 minutes, where it is only you.
Clear your mind and process the happenings of the day.
Finally, connect with others whom you enjoy. Hear about their day and give them the opportunity to process, just as they can do for you.
Chronic daily stress activates the body’s immune system at a high rate, which leads to over-release of negative stress hormones and puts the individual at risk for illness when the body’s defenses become exhausted.
Unfortunately, over time, it also puts the individual at significant cardiovascular health risks and increases risk for the development of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
What makes for a “Most Relaxed City” in your book? Less traffic or work stress? More parks? A wellness/fitness culture? Lots of dogs, cats, and other pets?
In my book, open spaces with lots of sunlight, minimal stressors, relatively clean air, and little noise allow the individual to reflect, exercise, and enjoy being with themselves and others without the insults of the 9-to-5 world. The ability to enjoy a meal or drink outside, perhaps with one’s children or pet, or even alone, is important.
As an expert on relaxation, how do you personally decompress, destress, and ease your mind?
Exercise and responsible socialization are my go-to ways of relaxing and, if it can be done outside, that’s my preference. Even if I’m working at home, I enjoy taking my work on the porch or my deck to enjoy the sun and the warmth, weather permitting.
What are the three best ways to relax while working from home, where boundaries between personal and professional life often can blur?
My experience is to stick to the regular work schedule, like 9-5, with one hour in the middle for lunch.
Play the music you like, and you don’t need to worry about interrupting your colleagues.
If possible, like the weather is good, go outside for a while after work.
What are your top three relaxation strategies for people with the most stressful jobs — ER doctors, firefighters, and therapists, for example — to help them reset?
The employer should provide active counseling services and let the employees know the support is readily available.
Take a break during the shift. Ideally, the employer provides enough time for the break.
Spend time outdoors.
What makes for a “Most Relaxed City” in your book? Less traffic or work stress? More parks? A wellness/fitness culture? Lots of dogs, cats, and other pets?
All the elements you mentioned in the question are relevant. From my perspective, the most important component is reasonable workload and people do not suffer from work stress.
Without much work stress, people can have adequate energy and time to enjoy beautiful sceneries, outdoor activities, pets, working out, etc.
As an expert on relaxation, how do you personally decompress, destress, and ease your mind?
First, set up a reasonable expectation for work and career. When I am doing difficult work, I like listening to classical music. After work, enjoy a good meal. During the weekend, if the weather allows (I live in Iowa), go outside with family members and friends
Behind the Ranking
First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Most Relaxed Cities. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into eight categories:
- Mental Well-Being
- Mental Health Boosters
- Physical Well-Being
- Financial Well-Being
- Work Stressors
- Environmental Stressors
- Social Stressors
- Recreation Options
The categories, factors, and their weights are listed in the table below.
For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we then gathered data on each factor from the sources listed below the table.
Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each city to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A city’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Most Relaxed” (No. 1) and the lowest “Most Stressed” (No. 200). Note: The “Most Stressed” among individual factors may not be No. 200 due to ties.
Sources: AllTrails, American Public Gardens Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, City-Data.com, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Gun Violence Archive, IPUMS Time Use, Lawn Love, MassageTherapy.com, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Other LawnStarter Rankings, Psychology Today, Trust for Public Land, U.S. Census Bureau, Walk Score, and Yelp
Find Peace in Your Backyard — Literally
Everyone has a different idea of relaxation. While some of us can easily find tranquility in a quiet, dark space, others feel peace from having a healthy savings account, achieving work-life balance, or living in a safe neighborhood. Spa days help, too.
If you’re lucky enough to have a yard or other type of green space in your home, you can create your own serene atmosphere with these tips:
- Build a low-maintenance rock garden.
- For soothing nature sounds, install a water garden.
- Add ambiance to your yard with other calming water features.
- Attract friendly butterflies by building a garden just for them.
- Grow a wildflower garden by taking advantage of rainwater runoff.
- Hang a hammock between your trees for a quiet moment in the shade.
Check out the LawnStarter blog for other helpful ideas on how to make the most of your green space for complete relaxation.
Is your lawn-dry list keeping you from relaxing? Hire a local LawnStarter pro to tackle your yard chores so you can rest easy.
Media Resources
- High-resolution image of infographic
- High-resolution images of cities
- 2021’s Most Relaxed Cities ranking results
Main Photo Credit: Pexels
