Sin Survey: Iowans Are Squeaky Clean

DES MOINES, IA — When it comes to the seven deadly sins, Iowans are in pretty good shape, according to the 2017 survey of most sinful cities released by WalletHub.com. Even tossing in a few other bad habits — from fast food to strip clubs to Tinder use — the survey found Iowans to be squeaky clean compared to other states.

WalletHub looked at the 150 biggest cities in the nation and the two biggest per state to give every area a fair chance at being found lustful, greedy, gluttonous, hateful, angry, vain or lazy. An index, derived from the average score in each category, yielded the final ranking.

The good news is Iowa placed near the bottom among 182 communities, with Des Moines coming in at 152 and Cedar Rapids scoring 173. The Midwest overall fared well (we'll forgive your fourth place rank, St. Louis, and your seventh place, Detroit) with Nevada, Florida and Louisiana dominating the top 10 among sinful cities.

While Iowa is tame in comparison to the likes of Las Vegas, Orlando and Miami — the top three — some results are real head scratchers: Anyone know what's going on in Richmond, Va., (No. 11), Gulfport, Miss., (15) or Toledo, Ohio, (22)?

Among the 2017 Most Sinful Cities In America list, Des Moines had an overall "vice index" of 34.28 and saw greed as its biggest sin and sloth as its smallest, with these scores:

• Anger: 158
• Jealousy: 136
• Exceeses and Vices: 103
• Greed: 66
• Lust: 102
• Vanity: 132
• Laziness: 167

Cedar Rapids scored 31.78 on the vice index, with excesses and vices being the city's biggest sin and greed being its least sinful area, with these rankings:

• Anger: 174
• Jealousy: 168
• Excesses and Vices: 69
• Greed: 177
• Lust: 127
• Vanity: 111
• Laziness: 164

The index score was derived from the combined scores of each category that were averaged. Also factored into this auspicious list were hate crimes and hate groups per capita, the number of sex crimes committed, obesity and the number of fast food establishments per capita, the number of adult drinkers of adult beverages, coffee drinkers, smokers, the number of strip clubs, the calculation of teen birth rates in certain areas, and where to find the most active Tinder users.

A range of cities across the country took first place in the various categories — and surprisingly America's "sin city" Las Vegas only claimed the top spot in the vanity category. The most sinful cities by category, WalletHub found, are:

• Anger: Charleston, W.Va.
• Jealousy: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Excesses and Vices: Charleston, W.Va.
• Greed: Gulfport, Miss.
• Lust: Richmond, Va.
• Vanity: Las Vegas, Nev.
• Laziness: Providence, R.I.

Charleston clearly has some work to do. Want to see the results across the country? Click the link for sinful cities to get started.

Image via WalletHub; Patch's Bryan Kirk contributed to this story.