The Most (and Least) Sleep-Deprived U.S. Cities

In 2020, nearly 15% of American adults reported trouble falling asleep, and about 18% had difficulty staying asleep.1 And those are the percentages of us who are aware of the problem. Not getting enough sleep is called sleep deprivation, and it can have a major impact on your quality of life. Besides impacting your ability to focus and function at work or school, a lack of sleep has been linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and others.2

We conducted a study on the 100 most populous U.S. cities using primarily CDC data, divided the information into weighted categories, graded each state’s sleep duration and quality, and then ranked each city from most to least sleep-deprived.

• Both Norfolk, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana — the top two most sleep-deprived cities — ranked high for short sleep duration and poor sleep quality.
• Nearly all of the ten most sleep-deprived cities are in the eastern half of the U.S.
• Wake up, Ohioans! (Er, actually, don’t.) Ohio is the only state with multiple cities on the top ten most sleep-deprived list — including Toledo (4th), Cincinnati (5th), and Cleveland (9th).
• Both California and Minnesota have multiple cities among the ten least sleep-deprived locations.

May is “Better Sleep Month,” a time to acknowledge the fundamentally important role of sleep in our health.2 To recognize this, our research team developed a study to find out which major cities across the United States appear to be suffering the most from sleep deprivation. Using federal data from sources like the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and its Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates (PLACES) databases, we combined six weighted metrics to create a ranking system that scores each city’s average sleep duration and sleep quality.

While sleep duration data is relatively straightforward and the subject of more widespread attention, it doesn’t paint a full picture of sleep deprivation. To be more comprehensive, we took five distinct factors into account in order to paint a picture of sleep quality for each city. Those five factors that significantly contribute to poor sleep quality include the prevalence of the following:

With this information in mind, let’s take a look at the most (and least) sleep-deprived major cities in the United States.

While insufficient sleep is a nationwide problem, the eastern half of the United States seems particularly sleep deprived. Based on the results of our data analysis, the top ten most sleep-deprived cities are:

1. Norfolk, Virginia
2. New Orleans, Louisiana
3. Detroit, Michigan
4. Toledo, Ohio
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Indianapolis, Indiana
7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. Laredo, Texas
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. Memphis, Tennessee

As you may have noticed, Ohio is the only state on the above list that appears multiple times. (And it makes one more appearance in the top 20, with Columbus coming in at 14th place.) We’ll delve into more details later, but several of those Ohio cities also ranked high for various factors leading to poor sleep quality.

Pivoting to the other entries on the top ten list, the only city that isn’t in the eastern part of the country is Laredo, Texas. However, it’s worth pointing out that there are Midwestern and West Coast cities that also ended up pretty high in our rankings, including:

• Corpus Christi, Texas (11th)
• Las Vegas, Nevada (14th)
• North Las Vegas, Nevada (17th)
• San Antonio, Texas (19th)
• Honolulu, Hawaii (20th)

The top ten least sleep-deprived cities

As mentioned above, sleep deprivation is definitely a national problem, with clear room for improvement in every major metro area. But some interesting patterns did emerge from our data analysis. While most of the top sleep-deprived cities are in the eastern half of the country, the ten least sleep-deprived ones are mainly in the Midwest and the West, including:

1. Minneapolis, Minnesota
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Jose, California
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. Boise, Idaho
6. St. Paul, Minnesota
7. Denver, Colorado
8. Lincoln, Nebraska
9. Oakland, California
10. San Francisco, California

On this list, two states make multiple appearances: California (three times) and Minnesota (twice). Also worth mentioning is the fact that most of these cities are situated in areas with below-average nighttime temperatures. Some experts suggest that cooler temperatures can improve sleep, so that very well may be a factor at play.16

Though Midwestern and Western cities dominated the list of the ten least sleep-deprived cities, some Eastern cities rank quite well for sleep, such as:

• Raleigh, North Carolina (14th least sleep-deprived)
• Washington, District of Columbia (19th least sleep-deprived)
• Winston-Salem, North Carolina (24th least sleep-deprived)
• Durham, North Carolina (27th least sleep-deprived)

In the following section, we’ll explore the cities with the lowest sleep duration and worst sleep quality in more detail, including some interesting data points we noticed during our analysis.

As mentioned earlier, we evaluated each city’s sleep deprivation ranking based on citizens’ average sleep duration and the prevalence of five metrics — physical activity, obesity, alcohol consumption, mental distress, and noise and light pollution — that can impact sleep quality.

The cities with the shortest sleep duration

According to our analysis of CDC data, the cities with the shortest sleep duration include:

1. Honolulu, Hawaii
2. Norfolk, Virginia
3. New Orleans, Louisiana
4. Detroit, Michigan
5. Huntsville, Alabama

Three of these cities also made it onto the top ten list of the most sleep-deprived cities: Norfolk, Virginia (1st), New Orleans, Louisiana (2nd), and Detroit, Michigan (3rd). The other two cities, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Huntsville, Alabama, also ranked fairly high for overall sleep deprivation, each earning a spot in the top 20. However, this list is the only time in which these two cities make an appearance in a top spot.

The cities getting the worst-quality sleep

The five cities getting the worst-quality sleep, according to our data, are:

1. Memphis, Tennessee
2. New Orleans, Louisiana
3. Norfolk, Virginia
4. Cincinnati, Ohio
5. Corpus Christi, Texas

Again, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Norfolk, Virginia, are high-ranking. But you may also notice that two other cities from the top ten most sleep-deprived cities list made this one, too: Memphis, Tennessee (10th), and Cincinnati, Ohio (5th). The only entry in the above list that didn’t make the top ten is Corpus Christi, Texas, but it’s not too surprising to see, given that it ranked 11th most sleep-deprived.

If you’re curious about the top five cities for each individual sleep quality metric, the rankings are as follows. (Note: those that also made the top ten most sleep-deprived list are marked with the associated ranking.)

Top five least physically active in leisure time:

1. Laredo, Texas (8th)
2. Corpus Christi, Texas
3. El Paso, Texas
4. Memphis, Tennessee (10th)
5. Miami, Florida

Top five with the highest obesity rates:

1. Corpus Christi, Texas
2. Memphis, Tennessee (10th)
3. Laredo, Texas (8th)
4. Toledo, Ohio (4th)
5. Chesapeake, Virginia

Top five highest rates of mental distress:

1. Memphis, Tennessee (10th)
2. Toledo, Ohio (4th)
3. Norfolk, Virginia (1st)
4. New Orleans, Louisiana (2nd)
5. Richmond, Virginia

Top five for binge drinking:

1. Denver, Colorado
2. Washington, District of Columbia
3. Madison, Wisconsin
4. San Francisco, California
5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Top five for noise and light pollution:

1. Newark, New Jersey
2. Anaheim, California
3. Memphis, Tennessee (10th)
4. New York, New York
5. Norfolk, Virginia (1st)

It’s interesting that multiple cities from the ten least sleep-deprived list appear on the top five list for prevalence of binge drinking: Denver, Colorado (7th), Madison, Wisconsin (4th), San Francisco, California (10th), and Minneapolis, Minnesota (1st). This is the only instance in which any of the least sleep-deprived cities ranked high for a factor with a negative impact on sleep quality. But it is just one of the five factors contributing to the picture of sleep quality; their relatively low prevalence of mental distress and obesity, alongside strong sleep duration scores, buoyed these cities in our assessment.

Though we’ve covered quite a few cities across the country, you may be curious if and where yours ended up on the list (if it hasn’t already been mentioned). The sortable table below breaks down the rankings of all 100 major cities we evaluated, overall rank of 1 being the most sleep-deprived city and 100 being the least sleep-deprived city. In all columns that follow the total population rank, a rank of 1 indicates the highest prevalence, while rank 100 indicates lowest prevalence.

Whether or not your city made it onto this list, you may be looking for solutions on how to sleep better — a valuable pursuit. In the following sections, we’ll cover some methods you can use to try to improve your own sleep hygiene and achieve some quality rest.

Regular exercise

Exercise can have a major positive impact on sleep, from promoting the production of melatonin to reducing stress, improving your mood, and more.3

But you don’t have to hit the gym every day to achieve this. A 2024 study found that participants who exercised “at least two or more times a week, for 1 hour/week or more” experienced better sleep.21 So even taking a 30-minute walk twice a week could help you reap these benefits.

Reduce electronics use before bed

The artificial blue light emitted from electronic devices — smartphones, laptops, etc. — can alter your brain’s production of melatonin and negatively impact your circadian rhythms. To prevent this impact, it’s recommended that you avoid blue light exposure for 2-3 hours before bedtime.22

Try going to bed earlier

Most healthy adults over the age of 18 need seven or more hours of sleep per night, and those who get less may experience more frequent health concerns.23 24 So, though it may not seem like a big difference, five or six hours of sleep is not enough. But an earlier bedtime may help you get that extra hour or two and improve your long-term physical and mental health.

This is supported by a few different pieces of research. According to the findings of a 2020 review, “earlier sleep timing and regularity in sleep patterns with consistent bedtimes and wake-up times” can lead to better health outcomes.25 And a 2024 study found that “night owl” behaviors (a preference for staying up late and waking up late) increased participants’ risk of being diagnosed with a mental health disorder. In comparison, those with “morning lark” behaviors (going to sleep early and getting up early) had the best mental health outcomes. It’s worth mentioning that the study’s authors point out that night owls who followed a morning lark routine, despite their preferences, fared better than night owls who stuck with a later schedule.26

Sleep aids

Though studies have shown positive results from using melatonin for sleep, it’s far from the only effective over-the-counter sleep aid available.17 Products like CBD, CBN gummies, and magnesium supplements all have demonstrated efficacy in studies.

For example, CBD appears to be beneficial for those with sleep apnea and narcolepsy,18 CBN isolate may reduce nighttime wakefulness,19 and individuals with a higher magnesium intake may experience better sleep quality.20

For this study, we started with the top 100 U.S. cities by population. From there, we analyzed relevant metrics from three large data sets:

• The CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is survey data of adults 18 and older and defines short sleep duration as anything less than seven hours of sleep.
• Data sets from the CDC's PLACES 2024 data release
• Numbeo’s noise and light pollution index data for cities

We created a ranking system to determine how the major U.S. cities ranked for sleep deprivation. Our ranking system weights the prevalence of short sleep duration at 65% (source: CDC) and combines that with our sleep quality index weighted at 35%. Our sleep quality index is determined by a combination of the following five data factors, all of which are sourced from the CDC except where noted:

• Prevalence of obesity
• Prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity
• Prevalence of frequent mental distress
• Prevalence of binge drinking
• Noise and light pollution (source: Numbeo)

These five factors are significant contributors to poor sleep quality. We weighted mental distress and obesity higher than leisure-time physical activity as sleep quality factors since many workplaces also involve physical activity.

Innerbody Research is committed to providing objective, science-based suggestions and research to help our readers make more informed decisions regarding health and wellness. We invested the time and effort into creating this report to explore which U.S. states are suffering the most from sleep deprivation. We hope to reach as many people as possible by making this information widely available. As such, please feel free to share our content for educational, editorial, or discussion purposes. We only ask that you link back to this page and credit the author as Innerbody.com.