A third of Americans are getting less sleep than is recommended. While insufficient sleep is often considered rather common, it can have significant and adverse effects on people’s health. After only one night with too little sleep, a person’s cognitive abilities can be dramatically diminished short term.

Generally, it is recommended that adults sleep about seven or more hours each night, but sleeping habits vary considerably across the country.

About 31.8% of Washington residents over the age of 18 report less than seven hours of sleep per night, the 7th lowest share in the country. Nationwide, 35.2% of Americans that age report insufficient sleep.

In addition to cognitive abilities, sleeping less than seven hours per night on a regular basis is associated with a range of adverse physical health effects, including increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease.

In Washington, 29.5% of people report having high blood pressure, the 9th lowest share in the U.S. Across the country as a whole, 32.9% of Americans have hypertension. About 9.3% of the state’s population 20 and over have diabetes, the 11th lowest share and compared to a national diabetes prevalence in people 20 and over of 10.5%

Lack of sleep has been shown to be a contributing factor to obesity. Sleep deprivation messes with the two hormones that control appetite — ghrelin, which signals hunger, and leptin, which signals being full.

Lack of sleep leads to increased levels of ghrelin (increased appetite) and decreased levels of leptin (diminished feeling of fullness). About 28.6% of adults in Washington are obese, the 17th lowest share in the U.S. and compared to national obesity rate among adults of 29.7%.

Low income levels appear to increase the likelihood of a population not getting enough sleep. This is likely caused by residents working longer hours at lower-paying jobs and the higher level of stress from financial insecurity. Nationwide, 12.3% of residents live below the poverty line. The poverty rate in Washington is 9.8%, the 9th lowest.

To determine the states where residents report getting the most and least sleep, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the share of adults in every state who report sleeping less than seven hours per night on a regular basis. These are the states getting the most and least amount of sleep.

 

Rank	State	Pct. of population reporting insufficient sleep	Pct. of adults with hypertension	Adult obesity rate	Poverty rate
1	Hawaii	43.2%	30.59	24.6%	9.3%
2	West Virginia	42.5%	43.54	37.8%	16.0%
3	Kentucky	42.1%	39.36	34.6%	16.3%
4	Tennessee	40.8%	38.66	33.3%	13.9%
5	Ohio	40.6%	34.69	33.5%	13.1%
6	Michigan	40.4%	34.73	32.4%	13.0%
7	Alabama	39.6%	41.86	36.1%	15.5%
8	New York	38.9%	29.41	26.4%	13.0%
9	South Carolina	38.8%	38.08	34.0%	13.8%
10	Pennsylvania	38.6%	32.61	30.8%	12.0%
11	Virginia	38.6%	32.37	30.5%	9.9%
12	Georgia	38.3%	33.08	32.3%	13.3%
13	Louisiana	38.0%	39.01	36.3%	19.0%
14	Indiana	38.0%	35.24	33.9%	11.9%
15	Mississippi	37.8%	40.77	39.1%	19.6%
16	Maryland	37.7%	32.38	31.6%	9.0%
17	New Jersey	37.5%	32.98	27.0%	9.2%
18	Oklahoma	37.5%	37.71	34.5%	15.2%
19	Florida	37.3%	34.57	27.2%	12.7%
20	Nevada	37.3%	32.65	27.1%	12.5%
21	Arkansas	37.2%	41.35	35.0%	16.2%
22	Rhode Island	36.7%	33.09	28.5%	10.8%
23	Delaware	36.5%	34.9	32.4%	11.3%
24	North Carolina	36.1%	34.75	32.3%	13.6%
25	New Hampshire	35.3%	30.01	28.6%	7.3%
26	Missouri	35.2%	32.04	32.5%	12.9%
27	Arizona	34.9%	30.65	27.9%	13.5%
28	Maine	34.5%	34.79	29.8%	10.9%
29	California	34.5%	28.36	24.3%	11.8%
30	Texas	34.4%	32.5	31.4%	13.6%
31	Massachusetts	34.3%	28.57	25.0%	9.4%
32	Kansas	34.0%	32.77	33.0%	11.4%
33	Connecticut	33.8%	30.49	26.3%	10.0%
34	Wyoming	33.8%	30.76	29.2%	10.1%
35	Illinois	33.5%	32.25	29.7%	11.5%
36	Idaho	33.4%	29.8	29.0%	11.2%
37	Alaska	33.3%	31.81	31.9%	10.1%
38	Iowa	33.1%	31.48	34.3%	11.2%
39	New Mexico	33.1%	30.48	27.3%	18.2%
40	Oregon	32.8%	30.13	29.3%	11.4%
41	North Dakota	32.8%	29.53	33.9%	10.6%
42	Wisconsin	32.7%	30.76	31.7%	10.4%
43	Nebraska	32.3%	30.62	33.4%	9.9%
44	Washington	31.8%	29.53	28.6%	9.8%
45	Utah	31.2%	24.45	27.0%	8.9%
46	Montana	30.9%	29	27.1%	12.6%
47	Vermont	30.1%	30.39	27.0%	10.2%
48	South Dakota	30.1%	30.81	32.4%	11.9%
49	Colorado	30.0%	25.91	22.4%	9.3%
50	Minnesota	29.1%	26.6	29.0%	9.0%

 

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