What Corporates Can Learn from the Best U.S. City for Mental Health

Coworking Cafe’s ranking of best U.S. cities for mental health and work-life balance revealed several factors of mental wellness that companies could target when considering employee benefits such as flexible work plans, commute time, and access to recreational amenities and green spaces.

Not every aspect of a city’s mental wellness factor can be replicated in a company’s context (such as inflation rate or air quality), but factors like access to recreational amenities or commuting support could easily be an option for your employees. In this Pacific Prime article and see how you can consider them for your benefits plan.

Minneapolis Crowned the Best U.S. City for Mental Health and Work-Life Balance

In a ranking by Coworking Cafe, Minneapolis topped the chart for best U.S. city for mental health and work-life balance, with leading performance across the board whether in terms of income, air quality, recreational amenities, average work week, commute time, and more.

The ranking looked at 100 cities with populations of 200,000 or more and ranked them based on multiple aspects of mental wellness including:

• Average working hours
• Availability of recreational amenities
• Healthcare
• Green spaces
• Air quality
• Incomes purchasing power
• Remote work adoption rate
• Average commute times

Minneapolis led the ranking with an average working hour of well under 38 hours, one hour less than average major cities and three hours less than those who did not make the top of the list.

Their commute time was also kept on average less than 23 minutes, with an increasing percentage of workers in remote jobs.

In 2023, 16% of workers in the city worked in remote jobs. The number has increased to 19% for the year 2024, making it one of the leading major cities in terms of flexible work.

The city also boasts a generous offer of recreational amenities with nine to 15 recreational amenities per 10,000 residents.

Minneapolis also supported its strong performance with an increase in purchasing power, improvement in air quality, as well as health insurance coverage for 94% of its population.

What Corporates Can Extract from the U.S. Best City for Mental Health

Of course, not all aspects of a city’s mental wellness factor can be brought directly into a company, definitely not for something like income’s purchasing power or air quality to name a few. However, the ranking has revealed multiple aspects of mental wellness that companies could target when crafting an employee benefits package.

Let’s explore more about them below:

Commute Time

Commuting time can be among the chief stressors for any worker, with longer commute time leading to a decrease in job satisfaction and an increase in the risk of mental health issues according to a study by the University of the West of England.

Of course, it would be impossible for a company to uproot its head office to wherever its employees are or assume the responsibility of running the city’s public transportation system.

Still, employers can assist their employees in their journey to the office by providing ‘commuter benefits,’ which could lift the commuting burden off their employees whether in terms of ‘ease of commuting’ or ‘cost of commuting.’

Hybrid work schedule and Work Home options are among prime options for companies to assist their commuting employees, whether by cutting down time spent on the road for employees or reducing unnecessary commuting cost.

Commuter benefits can also come in the form of:

• Public transportation or toll fee reimbursement
• Flexible work hours to avoid commuter rush
• Company carpooling

Recreational Amenities

Recreational amenities such as parks, sports clubs, swimming pools, or cultural institutions are what make cities alive, and access to these amenities is a crucial factor for the health and well-being of any city’s residents.

Not every company can run their own sports clubs or sport their own swimming pools for employees. However, access to some of these amenities can easily be fit into a company’s employee benefits package and wellness programs such as through gym membership, discounts for health and wellness services, or wellness allowance.

Healthcare

A company’s group health insurance as well as wellness programs can be a major helping hand for employees to receive the healthcare they need and to proactively care for their physical and mental well-being.

Though employees may already have access to some forms of public health insurance or a private health insurance plan, group health insurance can tremendously supplement employees’ existing plans with wider medical care networks or with coverage for pre-existing conditions, for example.

Moreover, 88% of employees regarded health-related benefits as being very or extremely important for them among other employer-provided benefits, according to the 2023 Employee Benefits Survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

And employees that are satisfied with their benefits are 1.6 times more productive and 1.5 times more engaged with their job.

Get the Benefits Your Employees Truly Need

However, it may sound nice to shower your employees with all the nice benefits, but the best benefits package is the one that truly meets the needs of your employees. Wellness programs may sound nice on paper, but employees may not use them if they don’t meet their differing health needs.

This is why Pacific Prime offers a brokerage service that allows its corporate clients to tailor flexible benefits plans for their employees.

Employee benefits plans that do not meet the needs of employees can be a waste of time, opportunity, and money for all involved. Flexible benefits allow employees to pick and mix the benefits that are right for them while saving employer’s time in finding a plan that works for everyone.

Pacific Prime works with top group insurance and benefits providers worldwide to ensure our clients have the best selection of benefits plans for their organizations.

Contact us now for a free and impartial review of your existing benefits offering.