New Study Claims New York Is One of the Most Sinful States in America

New York apparently has a lot of moral growing to do.

Virtue and Vices

Out of all the things New York is said to be, "sinful" was probably not on a lot of radars. However, our friends at WalletHub proved that we should be concerned about the soul of our state because it's apparently very filthy.

The website compared the 50 states across 55 key indicators of immoral or illicit behavior and determined which are the most and least depraved. Data accounted for the seven deadly sins of lust, gluttony, pride, wrath, envy, greed, and sloth.

Read More: 14 New York College Named Worst in the Country

As for how they did it, statistics like share of adults not exercising or high school graduation rates were used to determine a state's laziness. Meanwhile, teen birth rates or average time spent on adult entertainment sites were key indicators for lust.

In the end, New York landed on the upper half of the list and joined the ranks of the nation's most sinful states.

New York Is #1 for Vanity

New York's results trended all over the place. In some areas, New York was super sinful, but was relatively angelic when it came to other categories.

The state's biggest virtues were in the categories for excess and vices, as well as greed, where it scored super low. New York ranked 45th and 46th, respectively, out of 50. In one instance, it was found New York was the state with the fewest number of people with gambling disorders.

Read More: 2 Cities in New York State Named Rudest in the Nation

The Empire State was mid-tier when it came to the categories concerning lust, jealousy, anger and hatred, as well as laziness. We finished in 25th, 20th, 15th and 13th place, respectively.

But there was one category where New York outshined the rest of the competition. In the vanity category that  looked into data such as number of plastic surgeons, skincare specialists, personal care services, beauty salons and more - we were top dog.

With all of those numbers combined, the state was the 17th most sinful in America.

Other "Sinful" States

Nevada claimed top spot on the list, which really shouldn't surprise anyone who knows the other name we use for Las Vegas. Aside from greed, the state ranked highly for lust, laziness, and jealousy.

Louisiana stole the second spot with high scores in anger, jealousy, and laziness. The state was #1 in the excess & vices category.

California rounded out the top three, with second place finishes in both lust and vanity. The state also had issues with anger and jealousy, of which it respectively scored 10th and 11th worst.

Cassandra Happe, an analyst of WalletHub, explained this study was meant to highlight the bigger picture of the biggest problems facing the nation.

She said:

Although residents of every state have wonderful qualities, people across the nation have their own moral struggles, from violent outbursts and bullying to compulsive gambling, excessive lust and self-destructive consumption. At the individual level, harmful behavior may only impact a few people, but when a higher share of a state’s population engages in these activities, it diminishes the overall quality of life.

Are you surprised by New York's biggest vices and virtues? Let us know in the comments below.

Get our free mobile app