The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder and millions of Americans are struggling with seasonal depression. Seasonal depression, also called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a subtype of depression that usually starts in fall or early winter.

It’s estimated that around 20 million people (1 in 20) suffer from seasonal depression every year. However, seasonal depression isn’t felt equally in all parts of the country. Our team of analysts found the states where people are most affected by seasonal depression.

Key findings:

  • Alaska, Vermont and New Hampshire have the highest rates of searches for seasonal depression
  • Burlington, Vt., Fargo, N.D., and Springfield, Mass., are the cities with the highest rates of searches for seasonal depression
  • Searches for seasonal depression start in August and peak in late November/early December

Seasonal depression in each state

Detailed data on the rate of seasonal depression in each state isn’t available, so our team of analysts looked at search statistics going back to 2017. We found that while people in warmer, southern states do struggle with seasonal depression, people living in colder, northern states are much more likely to develop seasonal depression. We also found that searches for seasonal depression start increasing in August and peak in late November/early December.

Alaska, Vermont and New Hampshire are the states most affected by seasonal depression. Florida, Hawaii and Arizona are the states least affected by seasonal depression.

States with the most seasonal depression
State Rank Search index average
Alaska 1 96
Vermont 2 86
New Hampshire 3 83
South Dakota 4 77
Maine 5 74
Utah 6 72
Minnesota 7 72
Iowa 8 71
North Dakota 9 69
Oregon 10 69
Rhode Island 11 69
Idaho 12 67
Wisconsin 13 66
Michigan 14 66
Massachusetts 15 64
West Virginia 16 64
Kentucky 17 61
Illinois 18 61
Ohio 19 60
Montana 20 59
Connecticut 21 58
Indiana 22 58
Pennsylvania 23 58
Washington 24 58
Maryland 25 57
Missouri 26 56
Nebraska 27 55
Kansas 28 52
Delaware 29 52
New York 30 50
Virginia 31 50
New Jersey 32 48
Colorado 33 44
Tennessee 34 42
Oklahoma 35 41
North Carolina 36 39
Arkansas 37 38
Georgia 38 35
South Carolina 39 34
Mississippi 40 34
Nevada 41 34
Alabama 42 33
Louisiana 43 33
California 44 31
Texas 45 31
New Mexico 46 30
Arizona 47 29
Hawaii 48 27
Florida 49 23
*Wyoming data not available

Cities with most seasonal depression

Northern cities also struggle with seasonal depression more than southern cities. We found that Burlington, Vt., Fargo, N.D., and Springfield, Mass., have the highest rates of searches related to seasonal depression. If we look at the top 50 cities for seasonal depression, every one is in the northern half of the country. A southern city doesn’t make the list until Santa Barbara, Calif., at number 67.

Cities with the most seasonal depression
City Rank Search index average
Burlington, VT 1 81
Fargo, ND 2 81
Springfield, MA 3 81
Idaho Falls, ID 4 70
Syracuse, NY 5 68
Lansing, MI 6 67
Davenport, IA 7 66
Cedar Rapids, IA 8 65
Madison, WI 9 64
La Crosse, WI 10 64
Des Moines, IA 11 63
Portland, ME 12 62
Grand Rapids, MI 13 62
Buffalo, NY 14 62
Johnstown, PA 15 62
Salt Lake City, UT 16 61
Minneapolis, MN 17 60
Portland, OR 18 59
Toledo, OH 19 59
Eugene, OR 20 59
Green Bay, WI 21 58
Pittsburgh, PA 22 58
Milwaukee, WI 23 57
Columbus, OH 24 57
Rochester, NY 25 57
South Bend, IN 26 57
Spokane, WA 27 56
Cleveland, OH 28 56
Champaign, IL 29 56
Flint, MI 30 56
Boston, MA 31 55
Detroit, MI 32 55
Louisville, KY 33 55
Missoula, MT 34 54
Indianapolis, IN 35 54
Providence, RI 36 53
Chicago, IL 37 53
Lexington, KY 38 52
Seattle, WA 39 52
Roanoke, VA 40 52
Hartford, CT 41 52
Albany, NY 42 51
Kansas City, MO 43 51
Baltimore, MD 44 51
Charleston, WV 45 51
Presque Isle, ME 46 50
Cincinnati, OH 47 50
Fayetteville, AR 48 49
Boise, ID 49 49
Omaha, NE 50 48

Getting help for seasonal depression

Most health insurance plans cover some form of mental health services. Every plan is different, but coverage usually includes therapy, counseling and prescription drug coverage. Medicare and all Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) marketplace plans are required to cover mental health services.

If you or someone you know is struggling with seasonal depression, please consider contacting one of the organizations below to learn more about the causes, symptoms and treatments for seasonal depression.

Causes and symptoms of seasonal depression

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

National Alliance on Mental Illness

  • 1 (800) 950-6264
  • info@nami.org

Methodology

To analyze rates of seasonal depression in each state, QuoteWizard reviewed Google search statistics from Nov. 15, 2017, to Nov. 15, 2022. Search terms reviewed included “seasonal depression,” “seasonal affective disorder” and “winter blues.” Rankings were determined by combining index scores for each topic into a composite score.

References:

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