WalletHub names the most and least ‘sinful’ cities in the U.S. — with 2 Utah cities making the list

Ariel Harmer
·3 min read
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People walk into a club in Salt Lake City, which recently ranked 74th in a list of the most sinful cities in the United States.
People walk into a club in Salt Lake City, which recently ranked 74th in a list of the most sinful cities in the United States. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

WalletHub recently released its annual list of the most sinful cities in America — and the No. 1 spot should surprise no one.

Las Vegas, commonly referred to as “Sin City,” was voted the most sinful. The study measured 182 of the most populated cities in the U.S., including at least two cities per state, and ranked each on a number of qualities ranging from hatred to lust determined via crime and other factors.

Although Las Vegas regularly takes the top spot, there is plenty of shuffling from year to year among the other cities. For instance, Salt Lake City was the 74th most sinful city in America in 2023 — listed among the cities with “most thefts for capita” — which is quite a leap from the previous year, when it ranked 93rd in the country. West Valley City has also seemingly increased in sin, moving from 179 to 174 on the list.

Here’s everything you need to know about how WalletHub quantified sin and what cities made the top 10.

What makes a city sinful?

WalletHub ranked each city across a wide variety of criteria loosely based on the seven deadly sins. These are:

  • Anger and hatred.

  • Jealous

  • Excess and vices.

  • Greed

  • Lust.

  • Vanity.

  • Laziness.

Researchers examined relevant metrics within those seven groups for each city and assigned a numerical value to that metric, graded on a 100-point scale. For instance, under the umbrella of “anger and hatred,” researchers looked at the rates of violent crime and bullying, among others. For “lust,” researchers used Google Search traffic for the term “Tinder” — a popular dating app — as one of their markers.

Researchers used the numbers from each metric to calculate each city’s weighted average and used that to rank the cities from most to least sinful.

What are the top 10 most sinful cities in America?

1. Las Vegas, Nevada. With a final score of 63.03, it was the clear winner. It scored first in the greed category.

2. Houston, Texas. At 57.21, it isn’t quite as sinful as Vegas, although it ranked first in lust.

3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A close third with 56.83, it ranked second in both anger & hatred and jealousy.

4. Los Angeles, California. While the City of Angels ranked low on excesses & vices, it came in third in the lust category.

5. Atlanta, GeorgiaA. The survey named this city second in lust and fourth in jealousy.

6. Denver, Colorado. This city ranked eighth for both anger & hatred and lust.

7. Dallas, Texas. Dallas’s rankings were fairly mild overall, although it is rated fifth for lust.

8. Phoenix, Arizona. Scoring just .11 points below Dallas, Phoenix was rated sixth for lust.

9. Miami, Florida. Although Miami is relatively safe, with a low anger & hatred rank, it ranked seventh in lust and 10th in jealousy.

10. Cleveland, Ohio. This city is third in anger & hatred and fifth in excesses & vices.

What are the 10 least sinful cities in America?

From least to most sinful, these are the 10 least sinful cities in America.

182. Pearl City, Hawaii.

181. Fremont, California.

180. Bridgeport, Connecticut.

179. Madison, Wisconsin.

178. Port St. Lucie, Florida.

177. Columbia, Maryland.

176. South Burlington, Vermont.

175. Cape Coral, Florida.

174. West Valley City, Utah.

173. Laredo, Texas.

172. Yonkers, New York.