In a new survey of 21 major cities conducted by Sleep Junkie, an online bedding merchant, the City of Brotherly Love was found to also be the City of Sleepness Nights.
Only 40% of people in the Pennsylvania metropolis report regularly getting a good night’s sleep, according to the survey, while no more than 25% say they sleep seven or more hours nightly. This should be a matter of concern, considering how detrimental lack of sleep can be. These are the ways you could be doing damage to your body by not getting enough sleep.
Data collected in the survey measured light pollution, transport noise pollution, the percentage of people getting seven or more hours of nightly sleep, percentage of people regularly getting a good night’s sleep, and percentage of people who believe they live in a peaceful environment.
By these metrics, Philadelphia ended up with an overall sleep score of 64/100. At the other end of the scale was San Antonio, with a score of 94.5/100 — meaning that it’s a great place for catching 40 winks.
Sleep Junkie’s research found that Philadelphia had the fourth-highest amount of light pollution of the cities studied (Washington D.C. was the worst) and that just 25% of adults there get at least the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep per night — 8.4% below the national average. Based solely on the share of people getting seven hours of slumber, some cities are even worse off than Philadelphia. These are the U.S. cities getting the least sleep.
Other survey findings include the fact that Los Angeles is the noisiest and least peaceful city in America, and that Phoenix had the lowest number of adults getting seven or more hours of nightly slumber.
Though these were not factors cited in the Sleep Junkie study, it might be noted that Philadelphia has also been named as the fifth most stressed city in the United States, and has the tenth-highest rate of bedbug infestation. That’s enough to keep anyone up at night.