Where Wellness & Creativity Thrive in the U.S.

Between work deadlines, social obligations, and the general noise of daily life, finding time to actually relax can feel like another item on the to-do list. But some cities make it a little easier. Whether it's through yoga studios on every corner, painting classes that welcome beginners, or just a culture that values slowing down, certain places seem built for unwinding.

Paint Me Like ranked 50 U.S. cities based on access to creative and wellness activities and local interest in them. We also surveyed 1,000 Americans to understand how stress shows up in everyday life and what makes it hard to truly disconnect. The results reveal where relaxation resources are most accessible and how many of us are struggling to find balance, even when we want to.

Key Takeaways

• San Francisco ranks No. 1 overall for wellness and creativity, with Seattle (No. 2) and Chicago (No. 3) close behind.

• Nearly 3 in 5 Americans (58%) feel stressed on a typical weekday.

• More than 2 in 5 Americans (44%) said they often feel guilty when they try to relax.

• Over  3 in 5 Americans (61%) have canceled social plans or avoided making plans in the past month because they felt too mentally or physically drained.

• Nearly 1 in 3 Americans (32%) said it takes over an hour to "unwind" after work, and 21% don't stop thinking about work until after 9:00 p.m.

Cities With the Most Art and Creative Studios

1. Los Angeles, CA — 447

2. New York, NY — 354

3. San Francisco, CA — 255

4. Chicago, IL — 251

5. San Diego, CA — 197

Cities With the Most Yoga and Meditation Studios

1. Austin, TX — 235

2. San Francisco, CA — 231

3. Chicago, IL — 224

4. Portland, OR — 217

5. San Diego, CA — 214

Where Search Interest in Relaxing Activities Ran Highest

Painting Searches per 100,000 Residents

1. San Jose, CA — 472

2. Portland, OR — 467

3. Seattle, WA — 466

4. Minneapolis, MN — 454

5. Columbus, OH — 419 

Yoga Searches per 100,000 Residents

1. Atlanta, GA — 6,201

2. Miami, FL — 6,178

3. Seattle, WA — 5,083

4. Minneapolis, MN — 4,908

5. San Francisco, CA — 4,341

Meditation searches per 100,000 Residents

1. Atlanta, GA — 1,326

2. Miami, FL — 1,305

3. Minneapolis, MN — 1,272

4. Chicago, IL — 1,247

5. Seattle, WA — 1,006

Stress, Guilt, and Social Burnout in Daily Life

Weekday Stress + Social Burnout

• 58% of Americans feel stressed on a typical weekday, including 66% of millennials, 63% of Gen Z, 46% of Gen X, and 29% of baby boomers.

• 61% of Americans canceled social plans or avoided making plans in the past month because they felt too mentally or physically drained, including 70% of Gen Z, 66% of millennials, 53% of Gen X, and 38% of baby boomers.

• About 1 in 6 Americans (16%) have felt too stressed to enjoy their free time for 5 or more days in the past week.

Relaxation Guilt

• 44% of Americans often feel guilty when they try to relax.

• Around half of Gen Z (52%) and half of millennials (50%) often feel guilty when they try to relax, compared to 34% of Gen X and 25% of baby boomers.

Unwinding After Work

Alt text: “Bar chart showing top ways Americans unwind, including watching TV or scrolling social media (84%) and listening to music (58%)”

• Nearly 1 in 3 Americans (32%) said it takes over 1 hour to unwind after work.

How Long It Takes to "Unwind" After Work

• Less than 15 minutes (10%)

• 15–30 minutes (21%)

• 31–60 minutes (24%)

• 1–2 hours (23%)

• More than 2 hours (9%)

When Americans Stop Thinking About Work on Weekdays

• Before 5:00 p.m. (16%)

• 5:00–6:59 p.m. (26%)

• 7:00–8:59 p.m. (23%)

• 9:00–10:59 p.m. (13%)

• 11:00 p.m.–12:59 a.m. (6%)

• 1:00 a.m. or later (2%)

• Over 1 in 10 said they don't intentionally spend any time unwinding after work ends (14%) and don't stop thinking about work until they fall asleep (14%).

• 60% of Americans said their work-life balance needs improvement.

When Relaxation Didn't Feel Accessible

• 20% of Americans said relaxing or creative activities in their city are not accessible.
  

• About 23% of Gen Z said these options in their city are not very or not accessible at all, compared with 20% of millennials, 20% of Gen X, and 14% of baby boomers.

Methodology

For this report, we created a weighted ranking of the 50 most populous U.S. cities based on access to relaxing activities and interest in them. All metrics were converted to per-capita rates using city population and expressed as per 100,000 residents.

Yelp venue metrics (60% total):

To measure access to relaxing activities, we used Yelp listings to count unique venues in each city (deduplicated using business name and street address). We then grouped and weighted them as follows:

• Art/creative studios per capita (30%)

• Yoga/meditation studios per capita (30%)

Search interest metrics (40% total):

To measure local interest in relaxing activities, we used Google Trends search volume data. We converted each city's search volume to per-capita rates and weighted each category as follows:

• Painting searches per capita (15%)

• Yoga searches per capita (15%)

• Meditation searches per capita (10%)

Scoring and ranking:

To make metrics comparable, each per-capita metric was standardized across cities, then multiplied by its weight and summed. Cities were ranked from highest to lowest final score.

We also surveyed 1,000 Americans to explore stress and ways to unwind. The average age of respondents was 41; 50% were female, and 50% were male. Generationally, 7% were baby boomers, 26% were Gen X, 49% were millennials, and 17% were Gen Z. Percentages in this study may not total 100% exactly because of rounding or not all answers being shown.

About Paint Me Like

Paint Me Like transforms your favorite photos into custom paint by numbers kits, custom diamond paintings, and custom cross stitch kits designed for anyone who wants to create without the pressure of being an artist.

Started by a family who fell in love with painting but got tired of waiting weeks for low-quality kits, we now ship faster than most competitors, so you can start your project sooner. Whether you're unwinding solo or hosting a virtual paint-and-sip party with friends, each kit is made with better canvas and paint than you'll find elsewhere, because we only sell what we'd want to use ourselves.

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