Which states are the self-care capitals of the US?

When it comes to looking after ourselves, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an expert who doesn’t recommend, healthy food, good sleep, and regular exercise as essential parts of living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. However, in recent years, a new factor has started to emerge as an essential fourth pillar in the area of health and well-being – self-care.

Now widely seen by many as a core factor in helping to keep our minds and bodies healthy and balanced, practicing good self-care has become a go-to strategy for those seeking a reprieve from the hectic and stressful nature of modern life. In fact, it’s become so popular that the self-care industry is now worth up to an estimated $1.5 trillion dollars!

And yet, even though the importance of self-care in maintaining our mental well-being is undeniable, some areas of the US are definitely further ahead on the curve than others – but just which US states can be seen as the capitals of self-care?

To find out, we created a state-by-state index around self-care habits to see where in America such practices were most prominent, which included looking at local search volume around self-care habits, positive social sentiment towards self-care online, and the local availability of gyms, green spaces, and wellness retreats.

Keep reading to find out what we discovered!

The best US states for self-care

From the frosty winds of Alaska in the northwest to the sunny sands of Florida in the southeast, it’s safe to say that every American state has its self-care habits, but which states are the most consistent?

Take a look at our top 5 states for self-care, below:

1. California

As with many modern trends in America, it should come as absolutely no surprise that the one American state that is well-versed in practicing self-care on a regular basis is none other than California!

Boasting a total score of 84 out of 100, California came in 1^st for self-care search volume at 182,100, hiking trails length at 18,467 miles total, health clubs at 5,123, and spas at 4,779. Indeed, it would appear that California came in at the top for almost every aspect of well-being and self-care we examined.

As a matter of fact, the only areas in which California did not come first were in positive sentiment online (51%) and parks (148), with an additional surprise twist of ranking at the very bottom for noise pollution (6.54%). Still, none of this was enough to stop California from claiming the top spot as the US state capital of self-care.

2. Florida

Next up, and frankly trailing very far behind California, we have Florida, which garnered a total score of 58.2 out of 100, putting it almost a full 30 points lower than California. However, that’s not to say that Florida hasn’t done its best to embrace this new culture of self-care.

For starters, Florida placed 4^th for self-care search volume at 93,900, while also coming third for health clubs (2,809), and second for Spas, parks, and wellness retreats at 4,155, 161, and 81 respectively.

Unfortunately, however, Florida also falls short in one key area. Similarly to California, Florida did not score too well when it came to noise pollution, and while not sitting at the bottom, it scored 3.23%. Yet, this single factor is not enough to dimmish Florida’s overall score, which is kept high by its consistency in all other areas we looked at.

3. New York

Heading over to the home of the Big Apple for our third most self-care-conscious state, New York scored a very respectable 50.6 out of 100, thanks in no small part to its high number of available psychologists and parks.

Indeed, New York actually had the second-highest number of psychologists after California (7,290) while placing first overall for parks and green spaces at 164! Add to this its very high search volume around self-care (94,200) putting it in third place for this category and it’s not hard to see why New York took our third slot.

But, with that being said, in the same vein as California and Florida, New York is hindered from rising any higher due to its high noise pollution level of 4.78%, as well as by its lower number of hiking trails (4,447 miles in total) compared to other states on our list.

4. Texas

Heading south once again for our fourth-placed state, Texas is making a name for itself in the self-care sphere with the second-highest search volume around self-care (126,700) and the second-highest number of available health clubs at 3,285, both of which contribute substantially to this state’s overall score of 48.1 out of 100.

And the good news for Texas doesn’t stop there, with the state also clocking in with the third-highest number of spas (3,312), and the fourth-highest number of psychologists at 4,240.

Still, there is a reason Texas was unable to make it into one of our top three slots, with noise pollution once again being at its core. Texas scored 3.63% in this area, which while better than California and New York, is not ideal.

5. Pennsylvania

Last, but not least, we’re heading over to the East Coast again to Pennsylvania, which scored a total of 37.9 out of 100 for consistently delivering respectable scores in all the self-care factors that we looked at.

Case and point, Pennsylvania did very well when it came to both health clubs and parks, placing 5^th for each with 1,576 and 124 locations respectively. It also did quite well when it came to psychologists, placing 6^th overall with 2,970 available to state residents.

Of course, while doing well in many factors, Pennsylvania also fell short in others. Out of the top 5, Pennsylvania had the lowest self-care search volume overall at 44,900, while also placing low for wellness retreats at 9, both of which held it back from placing any higher.

Why is self-care so important

So, we know which US states appear to excel at implementing self-care, but it’s worth asking one important question – why is self-care so important? Well, as it turns out, good self-care comes with a host of benefits everyone should be taking advantage of, such as:

• Improved mental health – first and foremost, self-care is an excellent way to improve your mental health. Whether this is by meditating, lifting weights, or simply relaxing in a hot tub, doing things that help to relax our minds and calm our bodies have been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression by allowing our minds to properly rest and recharge.
• Improved emotional resilience – much like how taking the time to calm our minds helps to reduce stress, reducing stress will in turn make us more emotionally resilient by putting us in the right frame of mind to face difficult situations, such as having a tricky conversation or handling frustrating problems at work.
• Improve physical wellbeing – going hand-in-hand with good mental health, good physical health will not only make you feel better, but it will promote better sleep and diet, both of which are essential for keeping your mind fit and healthy.
• Improved self-esteem – as a nice by-product of working out and eating properly, you will naturally improve your physical fitness. This in turn will help to boost your self-esteem as you’ll be feeling better about yourself on both a physical and mental level.
• Improved relationships – finally, good self-care will put you in the sort of mindset that allows you to be more empathetic and self-aware, allowing you to regulate your emotions, prevent outbursts, and better understand what others are going through via more conscious communication.

Dwelling on the topic of good self-care practices further, the team over at Platinum Spas also had this to say:

“It cannot be overstated how important a good self-care routine can be. Not only does it help to keep us grounded, but it encourages us to improve our overall health in general, which will in turn further promote good mental and physical wellbeing.

“We all know how tricky it can be to switch off in our modern world, especially with such easy access to our phones and laptops, not to mention the potential to over-indulge in self-care routines that involve eating sweet-treats and endless social media scrolling – it’s just one of the reasons why hot tubs and swim spas are such good self-care alternatives.

“Promoting muscle relaxation and mental de-stressing, hot tubs are a great option for relaxing in our constantly online world – after all, you can’t take any electronics into your tub with you – so you’ve no excuse not to sit back and enjoy some well-earned ‘you’ time.”

Enhance your self-care routine with Platinum Spas

So, there you have it, those are the current self-care capitals of the US. Of course, that’s not to say that any of the other states that didn’t make our top 5 aren’t good locations for self-care, after all, most self-care is done independently.

And speaking of independent self-care. If you’re looking to invest more in your self-care routine at home, and you have the budget for it, then why not consider purchasing one of our top-of-the-line Platinum Spa hot tubs?

Get in touch today to find out more from our team or book an appointment at your nearest hot tub showroom to see our models in person.

• About
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Sarah Watkins

Head of Marketing at Superior Wellness

Sarah Elphick is our passionate head of marketing who has years of experience within the leisure, travel & tourism industry. She is well-versed in a range of marketing fields including sales, direct marketing, CRM, brand management, innovation, customer research and much more. Her experience has helped us expand our brand into one of the fastest growing and innovative hot tub manufacturers.

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