The Best Cities for Sleep in America

While we may not like it, we will all spend a large portion of our lives asleep. The human body needs rest, but life is messy and a good night’s sleep is not always possible. Unfortunately, this has all sorts of side effects in our day-to-day lives. Take these figures, for example:

• Nearly 5% of people report having fallen asleep while driving during the last month.
• Almost 40% of Americans fell asleep at some point during the day over the last month.
• Roughly 3-5% of those who suffer from obesity can attribute their condition to short sleep.

Equally important to the everyday issues that poor sleeping habits create are the factors that contribute to poor sleep in the first place: endless commutes, high working hours, busy schedules that lead to insufficient sleep. This got us curious. While so many Americans struggle with poor sleeping habits, there have to be some who are getting it right, don’t there? Turns out, there are. Here’s a quick look at the 10 best cities for sleep:

1. Champaign, IL
2. Bloomington, IL
3. McAllen, TX
4. Yuma, AZ
5. Rapid City, SD
6. Chico, CA
7. Brownsville, TX
8. San Angelo, TX
9. Lawton, OK
10. Las Cruces, NM

You could just as easily call this list the most peaceful cities in America or, perhaps more accurate, the best small cities to live in America. No city on this list has a population above 200,000, and we don’t think that’s a coincidence. Read on to learn more about the methodology and how each of these cities stacks up.

How We Calculated the Best Cities for Sleep in America

In an ideal world, everyone would get a good night’s sleep. Nobody enjoys feeling run-down or having to compensate with far too many cups of coffee. But given that this is definitely not an ideal world, we crunched the data to figure out which cities are at least close to ideal, leveraging data from the CDC, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Sleep Deprivation – The percentage of residents who report sleeping less than 7 hours per night.
• Depression Rate – Commonly linked to poor sleep. The percentage of residents who report being depressed.
• Hours Worked – The total number of hours worked each week.
• Commute Time – The average daily work commute length (in minutes).

Cities were ranked for each attribute, then the four numbers were averaged to create one final score. Cities with the lowest score (those with low sleep deprivation, depression, average hours, and commute times) were named the best cities for sleep in America. With all the number-crunching out of the way, keep reading to see where each city ranked for the four attributes. At the bottom is an overview of every city in the top 50, complete with data for each attribute.

1. Champaign, IL

Sleep Deprived: 30.6% Depression Rate: 3.31% Hours Worked: 33.7 Commute Time: 18.5

2. Bloomington, IL

Sleep Deprived: 33.1% Depression Rate: 3.8% Hours Worked: 32.8 Commute Time: 18.3

3. McAllen, TX

Sleep Deprived: 32.5% Depression Rate: 1.98% Hours Worked: 30.8 Commute Time: 21.9

4. Yuma, AZ

Sleep Deprived: 31.8% Depression Rate: 2.35% Hours Worked: 34 Commute Time: 19.6

5. Rapid City, SD

Sleep Deprived: 27% Depression Rate: 4.74% Hours Worked: 32.6 Commute Time: 18.4

6. Chico, CA

Sleep Deprived: 33.4% Depression Rate: 3.4% Hours Worked: 33.1 Commute Time: 20.1

7. Brownsville, TX

Sleep Deprived: 35% Depression Rate: 2.23% Hours Worked: 33.4 Commute Time: 20.2

8. San Angelo, TX

Sleep Deprived: 34.9% Depression Rate: 3.83% Hours Worked: 33.4 Commute Time: 17.8

9. Lawton, OK

Sleep Deprived: 34.9% Depression Rate: 4.26% Hours Worked: 30.1 Commute Time: 17

10. Las Cruces, NM

Sleep Deprived: 32.2% Depression Rate: 4.03% Hours Worked: 33.2 Commute Time: 20.8

In Summary, Sleep is Important

We all could stand to improve our sleep habits. Sometimes we need a little help, too. Struggling with waking up during the night? Maybe a sleep sound machine could help. Looking for a solution to help with your sleep apnea? We offer plenty of sleep therapy products to help you get a restful night of sleep. For the rest of us out there, take time to relax and wind down before bed, and make sure to leave plenty of time to sleep. It’s not always easy, but it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself.

Sources

• CDC. "Prevalence of Healthy Sleep Duration among Adults." https://www.cdc.gov/. 10 October 2019.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield. "Major Depression: The Impact on Overall Health." https://www.bcbs.com/. 10 October 2019.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Current Employment Statistics - CES." https://www.bls.gov/. 10 October 2019.