You'd think a place where world travelers flock to lie around on the beach would be in a constant state of paradise-induced relaxation for its residents. Of course, anyone who calls Miami home knows that isn't always the case.
In fact, real estate blog Movoto has ranked Miami the third most stressed-out city in the entire United States.
So how did the folks at Movoto come to this conclusion? They factored in a number of criteriam including:
- Commute time
- Unemployment
- High cost of living
- Crime per 100,000 residents
- Hours worked
- Population density
- Percentage of income spent on rent
Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey and FBI crime stats.
It turns out Miami's high rents are the leading reason for the city's bronze-medal placing.
"The biggest contributor to stress here is what we were just talking about with regard to NYC: affording a place to live," Movoto writes. "Miami residents put an average of 37 percent of their yearly household income towards rent, so just slightly less than NYC, placing this city at third overall for that criterion."
That shouldn't be much of a surprise. Miamians need to earn $17.50 an hour just to afford rent on a decent one-bedroom apartment. Riptide has also noted how rents in Miami are some of the most unaffordable for an average resident in the nation. The Miami Herald, meanwhile, has an interactive investigative report this week explaining why Miami's recent real estate boom has favored the rich and screwed over the average citizen.
Miami also ranked 12th overall (of America's 100 biggest cities) for crime, 14th for commute time, and ninth for population density. The Magic City ranked lowest for hours worked, at 47th.
Apparently, folks in Hialeah are a little less stressed. They came in 15th. Which still isn't that great. Though, even Hialeah came in fourth for unaffordable rents.
In case you're wondering, Washington, D.C., was ranked first, with NYC taking second. San Francisco just missed the podium in fourth place.
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