Florida Tops List Of Most Sinful States

TAMPA, FL – It’s not Nevada, home of Las Vegas, which happily heralds the nickname, Sin City. And it’s not Alaska where the FBI says there are more violent crimes per capita than any other state. No, it’s Florida that’s been crowned the most sinful state in the U.S.

That’s the debatable conclusion of WalletHub.com, the website dedicated to ranking all aspects of states, cities and universities.

WalletHub.com just released a ranking of 2018's "Most Sinful States," based on such factors as anger and hatred, jealousy, vices, greed, vanity, lust and laziness. And when the figures were added up. Florida ranked No. 1 out of 50 states.

It seems Florida’s biggest downfall is the jealousy of its residents. It ranked No. 1 based on thefts per capita, identity theft complaints and fraud complaints. Apparently, Floridians covet their neighbors’ possessions.

Florida also scored high on the vanity meter (No. 4). This ranking is based on the number of beauty salons per capita, the Google Search Interest Index for “Top 5 Plastic Surgeons” and household expenditures for personal care products and services.

In addition to being jealous and vain, Floridians are a lazy lot, according to WalletHub.com. Florida ranked No. 7 for laziness based on our share of adults who don’t exercise, our share of “disconnected youth,” the high school graduation rate, the number of people who do volunteer work, the number of hours people work at their jobs and the amount of time spent watching TV.

The clincher for the Sunshine State was its No. 8 ranking for lust. That ranking is based on the amount of time Floridians spend on adult entertainment sites, its Google Search Interest Index for “XXX Entertainment” and Florida’s high teen birth rate.

On a slightly more positive note, Floridians ranked 44 for excesses and vices.

Despite Gov. Rick Scott’s declaration of an opioid epidemic in Florida, WalletHub’s analysis gave Florida a low score for the number of opioid prescriptions written, the amount of marijuana used and the number of drug overdose deaths.

WalletHub also took in account Florida’s debt-to-income ratio, number of smokers, amount of coffee and liquor consumed, fast-food establishments per capita and number of obese adults in the vices category.

Ironically, Ohio, known as America’s bread basket for producing the bulk of the country’s wheat, earned the No. 1 slot in the vices and excesses category.

That's because the sinfulness quotient of any state is relative, said Jill McCracken, associate professor of verbal and visual arts at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.

McCracken was among a team of experts that WalletHub.com brought it to evaluate its findings.

“What makes some states more sinful than others? Laws? Culture?,” McCracken asked. “Things others might consider sinful I might take pride in. So, the question almost borders on meaningless.”

She said a lot depends on how society interprets sin based on its laws, religion and culture.

Some societies view vices such as gambling as an enterprise that increases the overall economic well-being of a society, even if it costs the individual the shirt on his back.

And many cultures consider drinking wine at meals as a matter of course. They'd never think of it as a vice.

“In general, laws, culture, religion, and worldviews contribute to what is deemed sinful and what is not, what is allowed and what is punishable, what is stigmatized and what is acceptable,” she said.

But it still begs the question, why do some states have more of a propensity for certain acts, habits or behaviors considered sinful?

“It certainly comes as no surprise that Nevada is the most gambling-addicted,” said WalletHub.com communications specialist Diana Popa.

But then how do you account for Vermont, which jokingly has more cows than people, rating as the state with the worst drug use problem?, Popa asked.

For those wondering, California follows Florida as the most sinful state. And despite its apparent high drug use, Vermont has few other vices. It came in last on the list, ranking No. 50.

To see the full WalletHub.com analysis, visit its website.

Image via Pixabay: photographer stux