NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A new WalletHub study lists two New Mexico cities made the “Most Sinful Cities in America.” WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 38 key indicators of vices and illicit behavior. Its data set ranges from violent crimes per capita to excessive drinking to adult entertainment establishments per capita.
Where do New Mexico cities rank?
According to the study, Albuquerque comes in at No. 70 with a vice index of 39.81, while Las Cruces ranked No. 146 with a vice index of 32.28.
The cities were compared across 38 metrics for seven dimensions for 2022:
- Anger & Hatred: Violent crimes, sex offenders, aggravated assault offenses known to law enforcement, bullying rate, hate-crime incidents, hate groups, deaths due to firearms, mass shootings, terrorist attacks
- Jealousy: Thefts, identity theft complaints, fraud and other complaints
- Excesses & Vices: Share of obese adults, fast-food establishments, excessive drinking, DUI-related fatalities, adult smokers, adult coffee drinkers, marijuana use, retail opioid prescriptions dispensed, drug overdose deaths
- Greed: Casinos per capita, charitable donations as share of income, share of adults with gambling disorders
- Lust: Adult entertainment establishments, erotic/burlesque events, Google search interest index for “XXX entertainment”, Google search traffic for the term “Tinder”, teen birth rate
- Vanity: Tanning salons per capita, Google search interest index for “Top 5 plastic surgeries”
- Laziness: Share of adults not exercising, average weekly hours worked, volunteer rate, average daily time spent watching TV, high school dropout rate
Source: WalletHub
Here are the top 10 most Sinful Cities in the U.S., according to WalletHub:
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Houston, Texas
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Los Angeles, California
- Denver, Colorado
- Chicago, Illinois
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Phoenix, Arizona
According to the WalletHub study, the least sinful city is Port St. Luice in Florida.
