Is the US heading for digital burnout?\” />

On average, U.S. citizens are spending about six hours on their screens, with some even above this. In particular, Vermont is the most digitally overloaded state, due to high screen time, residents are showing signs of burnout.

These are some of the findings from a new survey from Pew Research. The poll acknowledges that nearly 40% of U.S. adults say they try to limit their screen time, but most struggle to follow through.

Using these data, the company Sparrow has set out to rank the U.S. states most affected by digital overload, looking at unsubscribe-related search behaviour, daily screen time, household subscription rates, internet usage, and consumer spending on telecom and internet services.

Each criterion was normalized using Min-Max scaling and assigned equal weight, resulting in a final Digital Overload Index for each state.

As indicated above, Vermont tops the list of the most digitally overloaded states in the USA, with a total score of 60. This is not only due to the five hours of daily screen use, but also the increasing number of efforts to disconnect from digital platforms. Over 11.5K residents search on cancelling their platforms and subscriptions, suggesting a high burnout rate.

Wyoming lands in close second with a score of 58 with a loud and clear digital overload. While screen habits mirror Vermont’s, Wyoming records more unsubscribe-related searches than any other state, 12.7K in total which points to people being online constantly wanting to put an end to this habit.

Alaska’s high screen time and internet usage swing it in third place. Despite its remote geography and small population, time spent online runs high and internet usage of 83% is on par with more densely populated states. Along with a final overload index of 51, Alaskans, point to a high burnout rate.

South Dakota comes in fourth as one of the most digitally overloaded states. Only one state has higher internet usage than South Dakota’s 85.3%, making it one of the most online-reliant states in the nation. But that access comes at a cost of many wanting to cancel their subscriptions underlining built up digital exhaustion.

Delaware ranks just behind at 49.6, where the average person is online for more than six hours every single day. Its compact size hasn’t shielded it from screen fatigue as it has one of the highest subscription rates in the country as well as a higher internet usage than Wyoming, which stands second.

New Hampshire takes sixth place with residents showing a steady stream of high digital exposure. With 84.4% internet usage being used by the state’s widespread household subscriptions of 170K, the state reflects a creeping digital burnout that continues to build, resulting in a final index of 40.

Maine follows in close at seventh with a near identical profile to New Hampshire. Maine overload score of 40, comes alongside one of the highest internet usage rates, just 0.10% away from New Hampshire. Its effects are also similar, with Maine tied with New Hampshire for cancel subscription related searches, showing that these two North Eastern states desperately need a break from screens.

North Dakota comes in eighth with an overload score of 39. North Dakota has both high internet and screen usage, totaling to nearly five hours a day. This heavy exposure explains why North Dakota has the highest search pattern with nearly 100K residents looking for a way out, it’s a clear sign that they are experiencing digital overload.

Idaho posts a score of 38.7, ranking it in ninth place. Idaho’s score is mainly moved by a combination of a six-hour screen day and the highest internet usage in the whole nation of 85.8%. This volume of online activity is widespread, leading to a population engaged in screen culture feeling burnout.

Montana rounds the top ten states that are the most digitally overloaded. With one of the highest subscription rates in the whole country of 140K, Montanans are clearly using 4 and a half hours of their day on these sites. Relative to its size, Montana sees a high rate of electronic burnout.

California lands right outside the top ten but shows a high overload rate. At a final index of 35.1, Californians push it close with a six and a half hours worth of screen time. They’re clearly spending all this time on subscription sites, similar to Montana, as California surges ahead the whole nation with 4.2M households subscriptions.

New Mexico ties with California at 35.1 but logs the highest screen time out of any state. Seven hours and twenty minutes are dedicated to electronics in New Mexico, nearly an hour more than any other state. Residents here are more connected than anywhere else as New Mexico also sees the second highest subscription rate. Relative to its size, New Mexico spends a lot of time on screens and is experiencing digital overload.

Rounding out the list of the most digitally overloaded states is West Virginia. Coming in close with a final score of 34.9. West Virginia points to the same pattern of high internet usage and prolonged screen time of more than 6 hours, showing that residents are always connected and need to disconnect. Digital overload may initially appear as just too much screen time, yet it goes deeper than that. The issue is about how surrounded we are, by subscriptions, platforms, and notifications.