Florida is the most sinful state based on its inhabitants’ anger, jealousy, vices, lust and other behaviors, according to a report released Wednesday.
Other top sinful states include California, Nevada and Texas, while Vermont, North Dakota and Maine were the most moral, according to the WalletHub report, though Vermont also had the worst reported drug problem.
“It seems as though each society … is responsible for what behaviors are deemed good or bad within the jurisdiction,” Eastern Kentucky University associate professor Kristie R. Blevins said in the study.
Each states’ sinfulness was based on how they ranked in terms of hatred, jealousy, vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness. Those rankings were determined through various data points, such as the number of violent crimes, how often residents watched pornography and the amount of people who drank excessively.
In addition to being the most sinful, Florida was also the most jealous state, based on its number of thefts and fraud complaints. Nevada, meanwhile, ranked number one for greed and laziness because of factors such as the number of casinos and sedentary adults.
“Gambling alone costs the U.S. about $5 billion per year,” the report said. “That’s nothing compared to the amount of money we lose from smoking, though – over $300 billion per year.”
Vermont ranked last for both jealousy and lust, in part because the state’s residents spent a comparatively smaller amount of time on porn websites, according to WalletHub. Mississippians spent the most amount of time watching porn sites.
Alaska topped the number of violent crimes per capita and was third for the number of thefts per capita, though it ranked as the 28th most sinful state. Wisconsin was home to the largest number of excessive drinkers, while Oklahoma had the least. Arkansas residents were the most slothful, and Coloradans were the most active.
“If you mean ‘sins’ like drinking, gambling, etc., history and culture define outcomes, and law follows that,” University of St. Thomas professor Mark Osler said in the study. “In Utah, the history and culture are highly moralistic in regard to those things, so people are both disinclined to do them and they create laws that support that view.”
Utah, in fact, was listed as the 47th most sinful state, and its residents had less vices than those in any other state, according to WalletHub. It was, however, rated as the 24th-most vain state.
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