Flying commercial is stressful no matter which airport you travel through, but some new data has put together a comprehensive list of the most stressful airports in the country.

As an avid traveler, I have flown out of, through, and to most of the largest airports in the United States – Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, LAX in Los Angeles, O’Hare in Chicago, and Denver International as well as JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia in New York, to name a few.

That said, I was pretty surprised with some of the airports atop the list.

Methodology for the Rankings

Ranking something as nubulous and relatively subjective as “stress” is not necessarily an easy task given that everyone’s experience is different.

That said, the people behind the interractive tool Spin the Wheel Generator put together a pretty comprehensive list using some very real data from 384 airports across the country.

The rankings used five different categories of data, each rated equally:

• Number of enplanements, sourced from transtats.bts.gov, weighted at 20%
• Average departure delay, sourced from transtats.bts.gov, weighted at 20%
• % of departures canceled, sourced from transtats.bts.gov, weighted at 20%
• Average arrival delay, sourced from transtats.bts.gov, weighted at 20%
• Rating on Google, sourced from google.com, weighted at 20%

From there, , each airport in the United States was given a “total stress score” out of 10.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that stress levels at airports can also vary depending on the season, weather conditions, and even the time of day, so these rankings capture only an overall snapshot – it’s not a perfect metric.

Surprising Results

While most might assume that the most stressful airports in the country would also be the bussiest, that wasn’t actually the case. Smaller regional airports actually made up eight of the top ten most stressful airports, despite handling far fewer passengers.

This was highlighted by Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Colorado, which had a total stress score of 4.9 out of 10, thanks in large part to a whopping 8.9 percent of flights delayed with an average dverage departure delay time of over 45 minutes.

Here is the rest of the top 10, which was dominated by smaller regional airports.

1. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (Colorado)
2. Watertown International Airport (New York)
3. Hagerstown Regional Airport (Maryland)
4. Chippewa Valley Regional Airport (Wisconsin)
5. Houghton County Memorial Airport (Michigan)
6. Tyler Pounds Regional Airport (Texas)
7. North Central West Virginia Airport (West Virginia)
8. Plattsburgh International Airport (New York)
9. MidAmerica St. Louis Airport / Scott Air Force Base (Illinois)
10. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Georgia)

It’s worth noting that of the top-25 busiest airports in the United States, only Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta was ranked as one of the 10 most stressful airports in the United States.

Why Do Regional Airports Struggle?

While it might be surprising to see so many regional airports atop the list, one travel expert has a rather simple explanation.

As noted travel writer Brandon Schultz explains, regional airports are often more vulnerable to delays and hit harder when the occur.

“It’s not that regional airports are inefficient; it’s that they’re just more vulnerable. A single delayed arrival can cascade into a late departure. And with so few flights per day, there’s little slack to absorb disruptions that bigger airports can typically overcome,” Schultz wrote in an article for AAA.

“Plus, regional airports are often subject to flow control by air traffic centers that prioritize busier airports. That means even in clear weather, a plane heading to a regional destination might be delayed to accommodate congestion elsewhere.”

That said, Schultz points out that even though delays are more frequent and often longer at regional airports, it still might be faster than going through the whole process at a major airport.

“A 30-minute delay at a regional airport might still get you to your final destination faster than enduring a two-hour security line at a major hub,” Schultz wrote.

Most Stressful Major Airports

Though regional airports dominated the rankings, it’s interesting to see which of the country’s major airports were ranked as the most stressful.

Of the top-25 busiest airports in the country, here are the top-10 most stressful, according to the recent data:

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (#10 overall)
2. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (#15 overall)
3. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (#16 overall)
4. Newark Liberty International Airport (#17 overall)
5. John F. Kennedy International Airport (#18 overall)
6. Los Angeles International Airport (#21 overall)
7. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (#25 overall)
8. Philadelphia International Airport (#35 overall)
9. San Diego International Airport (#39 overall)
10. Miami International Airport (#40 overall)

It’s worth noting that despite being the third busiest airport in the entire country, Denver International Airport was not even ranked as one of the 50 most stressful airports in the United States.