Wait—Illinois Is One of the Least Stressed States?

Here's a fact that will not feel like a fact to some. Illinois is one of the least stressed states in America. If you're done laughing now, I'll share the data that proves it's really true.

Many in Illinois and America are dealing with unprecedented amounts of stress right now

Everyone has to deal with job stability (or not), finances, housing, family issues. Study Finds just took a look at those things, but also expanded it into environmental issues like air quality and crime rates. That combined with cost of living and mental health issues resulted in what they called a "stress score". With all the numbers crunched, Illinois was among the 10 least stressed states in America? Yes, I ended that with a question mark because I have questions. Despite getting a fairly low cleanliness score (is that you, Peoria?), Illinois did well for cost of living (have they seen property taxes in Illinois?) and had an overall stress score of 37.54. I have no idea what that number means except it's among the 10th lowest in America.

I am one of the few who are willing to say out loud that I think Illinois is an underrated place. Much of the national media loves to push the narrative that many are leaving Illinois, but I've always found the Land of Lincoln to be a friendly place especially in the farming communities in the state. The fact that it's a low stress place is surprising to me, but let's just accept the good news for what it is.