America's 'most sinful' cities list: Las Vegas, St. Louis top 2016 list
Las Vegas is the most sinful city in America based on the proliferation of seven deadly sins offenses, according to a new study. St. Louis, Cincinnati, Orlando, Springfield, Missouri, Miami, Richmond, Baton Rouge, Pittsburg, and New Orleans also made it into the top 10.
WalletHub, a personal finance organization based in Washington, conducted a study of the 150 most populous U.S. cities and measured them on 27 key indicators of evil deeds. The metrics each received a weight, and they were given scores on a 100-point-scale, with 100 being most sinful. These indicators were grouped into seven categories, namely anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, avarice, lust, vanity, and laziness.
Las Vegas received the highest score in WalletHub's vice index. Even though it only ranked high in two categories — avarice and lust, wherein the city ranked second — some of the indicators that fell under these two categories was given the most weight in the study. Under avarice, for example, all indicators, namely the number of casinos per capita, charitable donations as a percentage of income, and prevalence of gambling addiction, were all given a weight of ~4.76 points. Under lust, the proliferation of potential cheaters received a double weight of ~5.71 points. The lowest point given to an indicator was ~2.86
St. Louis in Missouri is the second most sinful city, according to the study. It topped in excesses and vices category, which included factors such as obesity, drinking, smoking, death due to overdose, and debt-to-income ratio. The city also placed second in anger and hatred, which took into consideration violent crimes and sex offenses, as well as bullying and suicide rates. It is also second most sinful in terms of jealousy, which factored in thefts, as well as identity theft and fraud complaints per capita.
New York and Los Angeles, the United States' top two largest cities, surprisingly ranked low in terms of sinfulness at 131st and 137th, respectively, but Wallet Hub analyst Jill Gonzalez said, according to The Christian Post, that this doesn't mean that big cities are unlikely to commit sinful behavior.
"Las Vegas, for instance, is No. 1 — smaller than New York City and Los Angeles, yes, but by no means a small city," she said.
"With 2017 right around the corner, we're hoping residents of these cities incorporate the findings into their New Year's resolutions," Gonzalez also said.
