Money helps.
A new survey of the most relaxed cities in the United States reveals — surprise! — that living somewhere fabulously wealthy can be good for your state of mind.
The LawnStarter survey analyzed 500 cities around the country, ranking them in a slew of categories, including mental, physical and financial wellbeing, work, environmental and social stressors — even separation and divorce rates.
Quality of life was also taken into consideration — researchers looked at things like housing affordability, recreation options and the average length of a workday.
The bucolic Boston suburb of Newton, Mass., ranked at top of the list, while the financially-troubled Rust Belt burg of Flint, Michigan, occupied the bottom slot.
The Silicon Valley/San Jose region of California took the next three spots up top, with the nods going specifically to Sunnyvale at #2, Santa Clara at #3 and Milpitas at #4.
The sought-after Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill. came in at #5.
“Affluent communities can afford the most laid-back lifestyle,” the researchers wrote of their findings.
“The median household income in the U.S. is about $75,000, but in our top 10 cities that’s $121,000 or more,” they wrote.
Besides beleaguered Flint, nearby Detroit, the Ohio cities of Dayton and Cleveland and Shreveport, La. made up the bottom five.
The unsurprising findings revealed high rates of mental distress, drug overdose, high blood pressure, strokes, smokers, deficient sleep rates, and poverty rates in the lowest tier cities.
