The Most Relaxed Cities in America

From parts of our personal lives to the communities in which we live, many factors contribute to our levels of stress and anxiety. While some parts of the country seem to simply live happier lives and appear to be more laid back, others are overwhelmed by everyday life.

At Solitaire Bliss, we know the importance of taking time for yourself to relax and unwind. Whether it’s playing a quick game of classic Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, or FreeCell, taking a few moments to reset can help calm your mind and relieve stress. Not only does this help calm your own mind, but it can even have an impact on the others around you as well. That's why we set out to learn which cities across the U.S. are the most relaxed.

To do this, we analyzed data from the CDC, Federal Reserve System, American Time Use Survey and more, collecting various data points targeting six categories: mental health, physical health, financial stress, work and leisure time, access to parks and green space, and safety. We then averaged scores by category and used them to calculate the relaxed score on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most relaxed cities. Read on to learn how your city ranked among the rest.

Key Takeaways

• San Jose, CA, and Frederick, MD, are the most relaxed cities in America.
• Miami, FL, and Hilton Head Island, SC, residents feel mentally healthiest in the U.S.
• Denver, CO, and Hilton Head Island, SC, residents are physically healthiest in the U.S.
• San Jose, CA, and Rochester, MN, residents struggle the least with financial stress.
• Provo, UT, and Boise City, ID, are the safest cities among those ranked.

Where Americans Are Most Relaxed

Relaxation is shaped by more than how much free time a person has. Often, it is influenced by daily pressures like financial strains, safety concerns, their physical health, and much more. When combining six key factors that regularly impact our well-being, we created a relaxed score.

Leading the way is San Jose, CA, with a relaxed score of 92.44 out of 100. Among the individual categories, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, metro area received the highest financial stress score. Residents in the area tied for the lowest debt-to-income ratio at 0.51. Similarly, San Jose residents have the 10th highest credit score on average (725).

In second place for the most relaxed cities is Frederick-Gaithersburg-Rockville, MD, with a score of 89.88 out of 100. When evaluating each factor we ranked for, Frederick's highest score was in mental health (4.42 out of 5). This is followed by Washington, D.C., (88.53) and Cambridge, MA, (88.19) in third and fourth place, respectively.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Killeen-Temple, TX, received the lowest relaxed score at 26.59 out of 100. Following closely behind are Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA, (30.64) and Chattanooga, TN-GA, (30.90).

The Cities with the Healthiest Residents

When faced with frequent stress, depression, or chronic pain, relaxation can be harder to maintain. While a calm environment matters, a person's ability to enjoy it can hold even more weight.

For each category, we collected various datasets to create an overall score on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 representing the best possible score. Beginning with mental health, we focused on positive reports, including the percentage of residents who reported zero bad mental health days and the percentage without depression according to the CDC's Behavior Risk Factors report.

Leading the way with a mental health score of 5 out of 5 is Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL. This perfect score is the result of Miami reporting the highest percentage of residents for both factors, as 71% have not recently struggled with their mental health and 89% have never been told they have depression.

Coming in second place is Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC, with a mental health score of 4.92 out of 5. This is followed by New Brunswick-Lakewood, NJ, (4.82), Newark, NJ-PA, (4.58), and Sioux City, IA-NE-SD, (4.52) in third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively.

Washington, D.C. tops two of the study’s six categories—best work-life balance and best access to green space—more than any other metro. Study Highlight

Switching over to the cities where residents are physically healthiest, we analyzed various datasets related to physical fitness and overall health. Leading the way with a physical health score of 4.42 out of 5 is Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, where 67% of residents report they participate in 150 minutes or more of aerobic physical activity per week. This is followed by Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC, with a score of 4.32 out of 5, as 1 in 2 residents participate in muscle strengthening exercises two or more times each week.

Cities with the Least Stressed Residents

Many of the conditions that support relaxation happen outside of the home, from access to green spaces that make it easier to spend time outdoors to peace of mind knowing that you are safe walking around your city or leaving your home unattended.

Starting with safety across the U.S., it was Provo-Orem, UT, with the best safety score of 4.82 out of 5. Boise City, ID, Virginia Beach, VA, Lebanon, NH-VT, and Wausau-Weston, WI, followed close behind, tying for second place with a safety score of 4.72 out of 5.

For some people, simply stepping outside and feeling the sun on your skin and breathing fresh air is enough to eliminate any worry or stress that had been festering. That's why as part of our study, we analyzed Americans' access to green spaces and parks.

Topping the ranking with a score of 4.84 out of 5 is Washington, D.C. While the nation's capital city offers a great deal of things to do from sightseeing to learning about history in the many museums, the city also provides residents with excellent walkability.

With a walk score of 98, Washington, D.C., ties for the best walkability alongside Nashville, TN. Additionally, 99% of the city's residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park, offering ample opportunities to step outside and unwind.

Coming in second place is Boston, MA, with a score of 4.80 out of 5, as the Trust for Public Land reports 100% of the city's residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park. This is followed by New York, NY, with a score of 4.74 out of 5, earning third place.

Find Time to Relax with Solitaire

Regardless of where you live or the struggles you face in your day-to-day life, it is crucial to find time for yourself. By taking a few minutes each day to unwind, you can recenter yourself and improve your mental and even physical health.

At Solitaire Bliss, we make relaxation easy by providing a variety of free, online games that you can play any time, anywhere. So the next time a time crunch at work or bill payments leave you feeling overwhelmed try a game of Spider Solitaire, FreeCell, or Pyramid Solitaire to help you decompress from the stress of the world around you.

Methodology

For this study, we set out to learn which cities across the U.S. are the most relaxed. To do this, we collected data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factors survey, Operation Hope, Federal Reserve System, American Time Use Survey, Walk Score, ParkScore Index, and Neighborhood Scout for metro areas across the U.S. Our final analysis covers 119 metropolitan areas, each with a population of at least 100,000.

We then divided data collected into six categories including: mental health, physical health, financial stress, work and leisure time, access to parks and green space, and safety. Then, we awarded points on a 0 to 5 scale for each metric, where 5 represents the most relaxed outcome, and 0 represents the least relaxed outcome.

For metrics where higher values indicate more stress (such as crime rates or debt-to-income ratios), scoring was reversed so that lower values receive higher point totals. From there, we calculated category scores by averaging the points across all metrics within that category. Each category was then weighted and combined to produce a final "Relaxed Score" on a 0 to 100 scale, with 100 representing the most relaxed cities.

In addition to our overall ranking, we also ranked cities based on the average score for each category including: mental health, physical health, financial stress, work-life balance, access to green spaces, and safety.