Community Corner
2 MI Cities Ranked Among America’s ‘Most Sinful’ In New 2025 Report
A new analysis uncovers how Michigan's cities stack up in a nationwide measure of vice.
Two Michigan cities were among America's most "sinful" places, according to a new ranking.
The WalletHub analysis ranked 182 U.S. cities by "sinfulness," comparing everything from violent crime and theft to gambling, adult entertainment, substance use and vanity-related Google searches.
WalletHub looked at cities across 37 indicators of vices and illicit behavior, grouping them into seven categories: anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.
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Each city received a “Vice Index” score based on data from the FBI, CDC, IRS, FTC, Google search trends and other national sources.
How Michigan Cities Ranked
No. 23 Detroit
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Detroit landed in the top 25 due to its high scores in anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices and lust categories. On the other hand, it scored remarkably low in greed.
No. 139 Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids landed in the top 100 in anger and hatred, excesses and vices and lust. It scored much lower rankings in jealousy and greed.
The Most Sinful Cities in America
Las Vegas claimed the top spot again, ranking No. 1 for greed thanks to its concentration of casinos and one of the highest shares of residents with gambling disorders.
Houston took No. 2, driven by high rates of adult entertainment establishments, pornography-related search interest and violent crime.
Los Angeles ranked No. 3 overall, including among the highest for hate crimes, bullying, and mass shootings.
At the other end of the spectrum, Columbia, Maryland, ranked as the least sinful city in the country, scoring low across nearly all vice categories.
How WalletHub Measures ‘Sinfulness’
The rankings are based on dozens of metrics covering seven categories:
- Anger and hatred: violent crime, hate crimes, aggravated assaults, mass shootings, and more.
- Jealousy: theft, fraud, and identity-theft complaints.
- Excesses and vices: obesity, smoking, drinking, marijuana use, opioid prescriptions, and drug overdose deaths.
- Greed: casino density, charitable giving, and gambling disorders.
- Lust: adult entertainment businesses, sex-related search traffic, and teen birth rates.
- Vanity: tanning salons and interest in plastic surgery.
- Laziness: exercise rates, volunteer participation, hours worked, TV-watching habits, and dropout rates.
Each city receives a weighted score that forms its “Vice Index” and final rank.
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