Sleep in the City

2006 Best & Worst Cities for Sleep

As our lifestyle becomes increasingly stressful due to work, relationships, and world events, the need for sleep becomes ever more important. According to a recent 2006 report of the Institute of Medicine Committee (IOM) on Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research, chronic insomnia affects approximately 30 million Americans. Sleep loss has been linked to health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure, negative mood and behavior, decreased productivity, and safety issues in the home, on the job, and on the road. For these reasons, we are updating our original 2004 Sleep in the City analysis.

The analysis of the Best and Worst Cities for Sleep was conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, a research firm in Portland, Oregon that specializes in studies ranking and rating United States metro areas.

The primary source of data for the analysis was the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The BRFSS is the world’s largest telephone survey, querying over 330,000 households annually about health matters, both physical and emotional.

• Find the places where residents are likely to experience the best and worst sleep.

• # of days in the last month that respondents did not get enough rest or sleep
• Average length of daily commute
• Divorce rate
• Unemployment rate

There are many factors that can have an impact on sleep. For this analysis, the criteria of commute, divorce, and unemployment was used and based on research documented in the 2005 and 2001 Sleep in America polls, published by the National Sleep Foundation. These reports highlight factors of lifestyle and behavior common to individuals having sleep problems.

Divorce rate was considered to be indicative of problems with marital relationships, unemployment rate was included as a measure of stress which is likely to contribute to sleep problems, and a lengthy commute was assumed to directly reduce a person’s time available for sleep

Findings

The analysis found no correlation between the population size of the metro areas, the region of the country, the unemployment rate, divorce rate, or commute time.

About Sperling’s BestPlaces

For nearly 20 years, Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own "Best Place." As the foremost creator of these studies, his work appears in national media on a monthly basis, and his second book was recently published by John Wiley, "Best Places to Raise Your Family." His firm, "Sperling's BestPlaces" puts facts about cities and living in the hands of the public, so they can make better decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate. More information is available at www.bestplaces.net.