Las Vegas isn’t the only sinful city: Report lists the most ‘sinful’ cities in the U.S.

Besides the obvious answer — Las Vegas — there are other U.S. cities that host a range of “sinful” activities. While some of the United States enjoys its illicit activities, there’s another side of the country that seems to “behave” more than the others, according to WalletHub’s report of the most — and least — sinful cities, with one Utah city ranking among the least.

What counts as a sin? While everyone has a different standard of morality, this report used the seven deadly sins as a guiding point for ranking U.S. cities. The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.

WalletHub ranked 182 of the largest U.S. cities, based on 38 factors that fell under the categories of each deadly sin. Some of these factors include violent crimes per 1,000 residents, sex offenders per capita, theft, obesity rates, excessive drinking rates, DUIs, drug overdoses and deaths, number of adults with gambling disorders, number of Google searches for Tinder, tanning salons per capita and average daily time spent watching TV.

Las Vegas: According to WalletHub’s metrics, Las Vegas was able to live up to its nickname of “sin city.” The city likely garnered this nickname due to the heavy presence of adult entertainment and casinos. While Las Vegas isn’t the top in the country for violent crimes, according to WalletHub, the city does rank high in non-medical drug use and gambling.

West Valley City: West Valley City ranked lower than Salt Lake City (No. 93) in terms of sinfulness. Coming in at No. 4 on the list of least sinful U.S. cities, this suburb of Salt Lake has one of the lowest excessive drinking rates in the country.

While WalletHub’s report doesn’t say much else about why West Valley ranks the way it does, the city has been previously ranked as one of the most dangerous in Utah. According to a report by HouseGrail, West Valley was ranked as Utah’s third most dangerous city, with 699 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 11 homicides in 2022.

Salt Lake City is ranked as the 93rd most sinful city in the U.S., and while it ranks among the lowest in the country for excessive drinking, it ranks first in thefts per capita, according to WalletHub.

Rankings

The 15 most “sinful” cities are:

1. Las Vegas, Nevada.
2. St. Louis, Missouri.
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
4. Houston, Texas.
5. Atlanta, Georgia.
6. Los Angeles, California.
7. Denver, Colorado.
8. Chicago, Illinois.
9. Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
10. Phoenix, Arizona.
11. Cleveland, Ohio.
12. New Orleans, Louisiana.
13. Baltimore, Maryland.
14. Memphis, Tennessee.
15. New York, New York.

The 15 least “sinful” cities are:

1. Port St. Lucie, Florida.
2. Bridgeport, Connecticut.
3. Fremont, California.
4. West Valley City, Utah.
5. Cape Coral, Florida.
6. Pearl City, Hawaii.
7. Laredo, Texas.
8. Burlington, Vermont.
9. Columbia, Maryland.
10. South Burlington, Vermont.
11. Brownsville, Texas.
12. Madison, Wisconsin.
13. Chula Vista, California.
14. Irvine, California.
15. Oxnard, California.