Houston is the most-stressed city in Texas, according to new survey

Traffic is just one of the many reasons Houston was ranked among the most-stressed cities. Click the gallery to see fun places to relieve stress in Houston ... like an ax-throwing place. Traffic is just one of the many reasons Houston was ranked among the most-stressed cities. Click the gallery to see fun places to relieve stress in Houston ... like an ax-throwing place. Photo: Johnny Hanson Houston Chronicle Photo: Johnny Hanson Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Houston is the most-stressed city in Texas, according to new survey 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

Despite a plethora of activities to relieve stress in Houston, a new study ranked the city as the most stressed in Texas, and among the most tightly-wound in the country.

The study, conducted by personal finance website WalletHub, ranked 182 major cities across 37 key metrics, including weekly work hours, commute time, annual income, divorce rate and suicide rate. Those metrics fell into four major categories: work stress, financial stress, family stress and health and safety stress.

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Houston was ranked No. 21 overall, with its "work stress" ranking (No. 3) and "family stress" ranking (No. 13) playing a major role in that position. It shouldn't be a surprise that researchers measured traffic congestion and average commute time in the work stress category, among other factors. For family stress, they analyzed things like the median duration of a marriage, strength of social ties and the cost of childcare.

Dallas, ranked at No. 36, was the second-most stressed city in Texas, followed by El Paso (54), Laredo (67), Arlington (69), Fort Worth (83), San Antonio (88), Lubbock (91), Garland (93) and Brownsville (95).

Austin fell to No. 142, while Plano, the least-stressed city, was ranked at 171.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com