The Most Stressful Cities Index 2021
Methodology
The Least and Most Stressful Cities Index 2021 compares and analyses 100 global cities for indicators related to stress. The cities were chosen for their size and significance, as well as for their availability of reliable and comparable data. The study consists of 4 broad categories - governance, city, finance and citizens’ health - each made up of individual stress indicators that determine how stressful a city is to live in:
Governance
Governance
Safety and Security (Score)
Socio-Political Stability (Score)
Gender Equality (Score)
Minority Equality (Score)
City
Density (persons/km2)
Traffic Congestion (Score)
Weather (Score)
Air Pollution (Score)
Noise Pollution (Score)
Light Pollution (Score)
Finance
Unemployment Rate (%)
Financial Stress (Score)
Social Security (Score)
Citizens' Health
Mental Health (Score)
Access to Healthcare (Score)
Covid Response Stress Impact (Score)
The methods used to find each factor are described in detail below.
Each factor consists of one or more indicators which were scored and averaged. The equation for scoring is as follows:
z-Score = x - mean(X)Standard deviation(X)in short x - μσ
For columns where a low value is better, for example, air pollution, the score is inverted such that it is attributed a higher score:
z-Score inverted = -1*x - mean(X)Standard deviation(X) in short -1 *x - μσ
Where present for a factor, scores are normalised such that 1 equals the lowest value in the final dataset and 100 the highest value in the final dataset. Therefore, the higher the score, the better the city ranks for that factor in comparison to the other cities in the index. The equation for normalization is as follows:
score = (100-1) *x - min(X)max(X) - min(X)+1
The final score was determined by calculating the sum of the weighted average score of all of the indicators. Below you can find a detailed description of each factor within the study, and the source used.
Governance
Safety and Security (Score)
An assessment of a city’s levels of safety and security, expressed as a score. This factor is a combination of the following risks:
Environment: fatalities, economic losses and GDP-impact of extreme weather.
Crime: homicides and personal security.
Infrastructure: physical and communications infrastructure security.
Domestic stability: conflict risks, socio-economic vulnerability, inequality and governance.
Transport: traffic fatalities.
Natural disasters: likelihood of earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts and other such events.
The score includes public opinion data on the perceived risk of being a victim of crime, and local media coverage of conflicts. A higher score indicates a safer environment and a less stressful city.
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit; European Commission/Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre; Germanwatch; Igarape Institute; Numbeo; Vision of Humanity; World Health Organisation; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Socio-Political Stability (Score)
An assessment of a city’s socio-political stability, expressed as a score. This data column is a combination of the following factors:
Voice and accountability: the extent to which a country’s citizens can participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association and a free media.
Political stability and absence of violence/terrorism: the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism.
Regulatory quality: the ability of the government to implement sound policies that enable private sector development.
Rule of law: the extent to which citizens have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, courts, and the likelihood of crime and violence.
Control of corruption: the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both small- and large-scale corruption, as well as the ‘capture’ of the state by elites and private interests.
A higher score indicates a stronger level of socio-political stability and a less stressful city.
Source: World Bank.
Gender Equality (Score)
The degree to which men and women have equal rights and opportunities in the economic, laboural, social and health areas, expressed as a score. A higher score indicates more gender equality and a less stressful city.
Sources: World Economic Forum; United Nations Development Programme.
Minority Equality (Score)
The degree to which minorities have equal opportunities in the political, religious and legal areas, expressed as a score. A higher score indicates more equality for minorities and a less stressful city.
Source: Freedom House.
City
Density (persons/km2)
The population density of the built-up urban area, displayed as the number of people per square kilometre. A higher density indicates a more stressful city and contributes negatively to the total score.
Sources: Demographia; OECD; local authorities.
Traffic Congestion (Score)
The amount of traffic congestion, expressed as a score. Congestion caused by temporary construction work was not taken into account. In some cases, official statistics from city councils were used when not featured in the source indexes. A higher score indicates less traffic congestion and a less stressful city.
Sources: TomTom; Inrix; Numbeo; local authorities.
Weather (Score)
An assessment of how pleasant the weather in a city is, expressed as a score. A higher score indicates less extreme weather and a less stressful environment. The factor was calculated using the following indicators:
Total annual hours of sunshine.
Annual precipitation in millimetres. To avoid scoring very dry cities too highly, the score penalises higher-than-average values but does not favour cities with very low annual precipitation.
Number of ‘extreme’ weather days (below 0°C and over 30°C) in each city.
Source: Weatherbase.
Air Pollution (Score)
An assessment of a city’s air quality, taking into account data from annual average air quality indexes, survey data on people’s perceptions of air quality as well as the average annual measurement of pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3), shown as a score. A higher score indicates better air quality and a less stressful environment.
Sources: Plumlabs; Numbeo; World Health Organisation.
Noise Pollution (Score)
An assessment of noise levels in a city, using hearing loss statistics and survey data on people’s perceptions of noise pollution, shown as a score. A higher score indicates less noise pollution and a less stressful environment.
Sources: Mimi; Numbeo.
Light Pollution (Score)
An assessment of light levels in a city, calculated using average annual radiance data, statistics on artificial sky brightness and survey data on people’s perceptions of light pollution, shown as a score. A higher score indicates less light pollution and a less stressful environment.
Sources: Numbeo; Science Advances.
Finance
Unemployment Rate (%)
The latest reported unemployment rate for each city’s metropolitan area or region, as a percentage. Due to differences in reporting dates and methodologies, this factor is not part of the total score but is presented as a barometer of inhabitants’ financial stress.
Sources: local authorities.
Financial Stress (Score)
An assessment of the financial stress experienced by residents of a city, based on disposable income after tax and accommodation costs, as well as the city’s price level relative to the country average. The score is calculated from two indicators:
Disposable income: the average income in a city less taxes and the average rent, converted to international dollars using Purchasing Power Parity exchange rates. A higher disposable income indicates less financial stress, adding positively to the factor score.
City-to-country price level ratio: a comparison of the price of a basket of household expenditures in each city compared to its country’s average. A higher ratio indicates that prices are higher than the national average, and therefore contribute to stress, adding negatively to the factor score.
A higher score indicates a lower level of financial stress and a less stressful city.
Sources: OECD; Numbeo.
Social Security (Score)
A score representing the availability of social security and support structures on a national level. This data column is a combination of the following factors:
Share of population above retirement age and receiving a pension.
Share of population covered by social protection benefits.
Share of unemployed receiving unemployment benefits.
Share of GDP spent on healthcare.
Income and wealth inequalities, as measured using the Gini coefficient.
A higher score indicates a better social security system and a less stressful environment.
Sources: International Labour Organisation; OECD; United Nations University; World Health Organisation.
Citizens’ Health
Mental Health (Score)
A measurement of the prevalence of major depressive disorders, including dysthymia, bipolar and anxiety disorders as well as disability-adjusted life years related to these illnesses, presented as a score. A higher score indicates a lower prevalence of mental health disorders, contributing positively to the total score.
Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Access to Healthcare (Score)
An assessment of a city’s healthcare system using data on access, quality and satisfaction, as a score. Calculated using country-level data as well as city-level satisfaction survey results. For US cities, state-level data was also used. A higher score indicates a better healthcare system and a less stressful city.
Sources: European Commission, Numbeo, World Health Organisation, The Lancet.
Covid Response Stress Impact (Score)
An assessment of each government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, looking at investments in healthcare, support for the local economy and the degree of social liberty the country has been able to maintain since January 2020, calculated as a score. The outcome of this response was also considered by including Covid case rates and deaths per capita. A higher score indicates a response with a lower stress impact, contributing positively to the total score.
Source: University of Oxford.