From Greed To Lust: Here Are The ‘Most Sinful’ Cities In The United States
They don’t call it Sin City for nothing — but Las Vegas isn’t the only American urban center where illicit things happen.
It turns out what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay there. In fact, sin is everywhere — from beer-loving Milwaukee to decadent New Orleans — meaning that the U.S. is filled with people behaving badly, according to a new study.
The report, issued on Monday by WalletHub, compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 37 key indicators and seven sinful behaviors — anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.
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“Regardless of any particular religious tenets, certain activities are considered ‘sinful’ by society as a whole,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. “Sometimes, these activities are always bad, like violent crimes or identity theft. In other cases, they may be relatively harmless in moderation but incredibly destructive when not kept under control, such as alcohol use or gambling. The most sinful cities are those where illicit activities and vices alike are the most widespread.”
Here are a few highlights from the report:
— Irvine, Calif., has the lowest violent crime rate, which is 32.3 times lower than in Memphis, Tenn., the city with the highest violent crime rate.
— Aurora, Ill., has the fewest thefts per 1,000 residents — a staggering 37 times fewer than in Tacoma, Wash., the city with the most thefts per 1,000 residents.
— San Francisco has the lowest share of obese adults, which is 2.5 times lower than in Akron, Ohio, the city with the highest.
— Fremont, Calif., has the lowest share of adult smokers — four times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest.
WalletHub, a personal finance company, ranked the most sinful U.S. Cities:
1. Las Vegas
2. Houston
3. Los Angeles
4. Atlanta
5. Philadelphia
6. Denver
7. Phoenix
8. Miami
9. Dallas
10. St. Louis
Surprisingly, New York only placed 12th, while Chicago was ranked 16th. New Orleans was 18th.
“Las Vegas tops the list of the most sinful cities this year, unsurprisingly,” Lupo said. “Sin City has the most casinos per capita and the fourth-highest share of residents with gambling problems. In addition, Las Vegas has the most adult entertainment options per capita, and residents search Google for terms relating to strip clubs, affairs and pornographic content more than people in most other cities. Las Vegas has the third-most fraud and identity theft complaints per capita, too.”
And these are the least sinful:
173. Fort Wayne, Indiana
174. South Burlington, Vermont
175. Bridgeport, Conn.
176. West Valley City, Utah
177. Cape Coral, Fla.
178. Madison, Wisconsin
179. Pearl City, Hawaii
180. Port St. Lucie, Fla.
181. Fremont, Calif.
182. Columbia, Maryland
Joshua Murray, Director of Graduate Studies at the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University, said the seven deadly sins in Christianity and paired them with the seven heavenly virtues, you “see that the sins represent the innate desires of humanity focused solely on individual gratification without regard for others.”
“On the other hand, the seven virtues are these same innate impulses directed at something larger than the individual: Interdependence and love for others,” he added. “For example, greed is the desire for material security that seeks to satiate this impulse by monopolizing as much wealth as possible, often at the expense of those around us who end up impoverished. Charity does not deny the innate impulse to secure material security but turns it outward and focuses on securing material well-being for others.”
Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post. Follow him on X @ClementeLisi.