Lifestyle

The Most Sinful City in Texas

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Cities of sin? A recent Wallet Hub study rated the 150 biggest cities in America by population according to their “sinfulness.” While the criteria were not exactly biblical or religious, the study took data from 27 different domains to determine the rankings. Let’s see how they stacked up.

Welcome to Sin City

Photo: Flickr/cireremarc

Unsurprisingly, Las Vegas came in at #1 on the overall rankings. “Sin City,” as it is called, was ranked #2 in the categories of both avarice and lust, propelling it to the top spot. St. Louis came in at #2 overall, also carrying the #1 ranking for “excesses and vices.”

Other categories that determined how the cities stacked up were: Anger and Hatred, Vanity, Laziness, and Jealousy. In the laziness category, criteria included average daily time spent watching TV and high school drop out rate. The Lust category also included potential cheaters and teen pregnancy rates.

Houston, the most "sinful" city in Texas.

Photo: Flickr/Katie Haugland Bowen

Using these measures, how did Texas figure in?

The most sinful Texas city according to the study is Houston with an overall ranking of #48. Amarillo and Austin were close behind at #60 and #67 respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, Irving and Brownsville were ranked at #138 and #147.

Other Texas cities of note according to different categorical breakdowns – Brownsville being ranked at #144 for lowest amount of excessive drinking. Garland and Plano were ranked at #140 and #142 for the fewest adult establishments per capita. Laredo was ranked #2 for the fewest amount of charitable donations as percentage of income. Laredo and Grand Prairie were ranked at #144 and #145 for fewest plastic surgeons per capita.

Sinny, Sin, sin!
Photo: Flickr/april

How do citizens make their cities more or less “sinful”? Sociologist Amanda Miller suggests that “the norms of a location dictate that certain behavior is acceptable.” That is to say, if more people in your area get plastic surgery, then that type of behavior would generally be seen as more acceptable. In essence, it comes down to the local culture of the given city and how the environment interacts with our own desires.

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