Two Indiana Cities Ranked Among the Most Sinful in America
I'll assume that when you think of a city being considered "sinful," none in our home state of Indiana come to mind. I'll also assume the first one that does is Las Vegas, and for good reason. The town's business model was built around most, if not all, of the seven deadly sins. Gambling covers greed, the endless buffets, food, and alcohol options cover gluttony, and lust is pretty well covered by everything else the city has to offer. I mean, come on, it's nicknamed "Sin City" for a reason. But while Vegas may be the peak of Mount Sin, when it comes to shedding your inhibitions and diving into the various pleasures it offers, It's not alone. There are several other cities across the United States with their own fair share of sinful activities. Two of which are located right here in the Hoosier State.
Two Indiana Cities Listed Among the Most Sinful in America
The personal finance website, WalletHub recently looked at 150 of the most populated cities in the country along with at least two of the most populated in each state, and using data from a wide range of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the F.B.I., the CDC, and even Yelp, put together a list to determine the most sinful cities in the country. The study looked at a variety of factors such as a few Las Vegas makes a living with (greed, lust, excesses, and vices), as well as crime rates, vanity, and laziness within each city's population. Each city was assigned a score based on those factors, with the average being used to determine each city's rank.
It should come as no surprise to you that Las Vegas topped the list, followed by Houston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, all of which were in the top five in last year's rankings.
As for the two cities in Indiana considered the most sinful, the "honors" (???) go to Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. To be fair to both cities, they were going to show up on the list by default simply by being included in the study. However, both found themselves a little higher on this year's than last year's.
Fort Wayne Ranked 134th Most Sinful in America
The second largest city in the state is also the 134th most sinful in the country, up nine spots from last year. Although technically, being at #134 puts it near the bottom of the list, so really it's one of the least sinful of those studied. According to the study, Fort Wayne ranked near the bottom for Anger & Hatred (i.e. violent crime, etc.), Jealousy, and Greed. But what pushed it up the list a bit were the Excess & Vices along with the Vanity categories where it ranked in the upper half of both. Excees & Vices looks at the share of the adult population considered obese as well as excessive drinking, drug use, smoking, and the number of fast-food restaurants per capita.
Indianapolis Ranked as the 53rd Most Sinful City in the Country
Not only is the state capital the most populated in the state, but it's also the 16th most populated in the country, according to Infoplease. So, it's not terribly surprising it's higher up the list. More people means more potential for businesses and habits that cater to what the study considers a more sinful lifestyle. Nor is it terribly surprising that more people means a better likelihood of higher crime rates. With that said, I've been to Indianapolis several times in my life and I've never thought of it as a den of sin, so to speak. But, to be fair, I don't live there so I can't speak to what day-to-day life is like.
The key factors that bumped Indy into the top half of the list were Excess & Vices (13th, up five spots from last year), Lust (22nd, up eight spots), Anger & Hatred (37th, up nine spots), and Vanity (40th). Of those rankings, Vanity was the only one to drop, falling six spots from last year's rank.
So, even though we have a reputation for being a state full of residents who spend their days driving our tractors through our corn fields, this study shows we like to have a good time too. Or a bad time, depending on how you look at it.
You can see the entire study on WalletHub.
[Sources: WalletHub / InfoPlease]
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