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DOES WHERE YOU LIVE INFLUENCE YOUR SLEEPING HABITS?


This isn't really a new idea here, that your location can play a role in how much and the quality of sleep you're getting, but now we have evidence that it is indeed true. You have most likely heard about various towns or areas being described as “quiet and sleepy” places, and you probably guessed that New York City was not one of those places. If so, you were correct, but there are no prizes for guessing obvious things. Sorry.

Anyway, when you look at the United States as a whole, just about one third (35%) of people reported that they get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. This is not enough sleep for the average adult.

When you look at the numbers from state to state, the data shows that people in Hawaii are getting the least amount of sleep, on average, when compared with the rest of the country. Only 56% of the survey respondents in Hawaii reported that they got at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

The highest reported state, where 72% of people said they usually got at least 7 hours of sleep each night, was South Dakota. In fact, most of the states around the middle of the country reported relatively high numbers, ranging from 61 – 72%, while the worst reports generally came from the eastern states. California and a few other western states didn't do much better either.

As far as global sleeping patterns go, when comparing country to country there is almost no difference to be found. The difference in sleeping time between the USA and UK, for example, is only 5 minutes. Canada gets 9 minutes less sleep compared to the USA. It's all fairly consistent, until you get to Japan and South Korea, which get much less sleep per night. Japan actually gets over an hour less sleep per night than the USA does.

Of course, the very nature of surveys like these is to make generalizations about the people in different states. There will be people living in New York City who are getting 10 hours of sleep per night, and there will be people living in South Dakota who are only getting 4 hours of sleep per night. So, it's not all about where you live, and you do still have the responsibility to make the necessary changes in your lifestyle in order to get more sleep for yourself, no matter where you live.

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