On one hand, we have nice beaches and warm weather. On the other, you could get eaten by a python or bath-salts-addled zombie, so we really weren't sure where Florida would fall on Gallup's ranking of the least stressed states.
Turns out the Sunshine State made the top ten.
As part of its regular Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index poll, Gallup asked residents in each state during 2012 whether they had experienced the feeling of stress during a significant portion of their day the day before.
Only 38.9 percent of Floridians replied they had. Maryland, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Wyoming, Iowa, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Hawaii were the only states to report lower stress levels.
What's particularly amazing, though, is how unstressed Hawaiians are. Only 32.1 percent of residents there claimed to be stressed out, putting them in first place. Louisiana, which came in second, had a rate of 37.6. That's a hefty 5.5 percent difference between the top two states. We guess when you live in a beach paradise that isn't facing python invasions, a foreclosure crisis, and a daily reminder that your governor is Rick Scott, life is really good. Apparently they're not all that worried about those volcanoes.
West Virginia came in as the most stressed state, with 47.1 percent of residents reporting stress.
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