MN Cities Ranked Among America’s ‘Most Sinful’ In New 2025 Report

ST. PAUL, MN — A new 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.

Several Minnesota cities made the list, and one landed in the top 50.

WalletHub analyzed 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.

Each city received a “Vice Index” score based on data from the FBI, CDC, IRS, FTC, Google search trends, and other national sources.

How Minnesota Cities Ranked

Minnesota’s two largest cities landed far apart:

47. Minneapolis

Minneapolis ranked relatively high overall, driven by a mix of crime-related and lifestyle indicators.

According to WalletHub, the city scored poorly in categories tied to jealousy and excesses or vices, including theft-related metrics and substance-use indicators.

127. St. Paul

St. Paul ranked much lower for overall sinfulness, with comparatively better standings in violent crime, theft and excess-and-vice categories than Minneapolis.

The city also ranked near the bottom of the list in vanity, suggesting fewer residents search for plastic surgery or tanning services compared to other cities.

No other Minnesota city appeared in the 182-city study, which includes the 150 largest U.S. cities plus at least two of the most populated in each state.

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.