Vegas of the Midwest? Cleveland makes Top 10 Most Sinful Cities in America

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Las Vegas, Nevada, is commonly known by its nickname “Sin City,” but it’s far from the only sinful city in the United States. In fact, one Ohio city is also among the most sinful cities in America, according to a new report.

Cleveland, Ohio, is the 10th-most sinful city the U.S., according to WalletHub’s Most Sinful Cities in America 2023 rankings.

The rankings measured 182 U.S. cities by seven key metrics: Anger and hatred, such as violent crimes, firearms deaths, hate-crime incidents and sex offenders per capita; Jealousy, such as thefts, identity-thefts, and fraud complaints per capita; Excesses & vices, such as share of adult smokers, excessive drinking, share of adults using marijuana, share of obese adults, debt-to-income ratio, and more; Greed, such as the quantity of casinos per capita, share of adults with gambling disorders, and charitable donations as share of income; Lust, including the quantity of adult entertainment establishments per capita, Google search interest for “XXX entertainment,” and more; Vanity, including the quantity of tanning salons per capita and Google search interest index for plastic surgeries; and Laziness, including share of adults not exercising, average daily time spent watching TV, and more.

Among U.S. cities, Cleveland ranks third in hatred and anger, behind second-ranked Philadelphia and top-ranked Birmingham, Alabama.

Cleveland also ranks fifth amongst U.S. cities in excesses and vices, in which Cincinnati and Toledo take the top two spots, according to WalletHub. St. Louis, Missouri, and Knoxville, Tennessee, are third and fourth, respectively, ahead of Cleveland in excesses and vices.

The Top 10 most sinful cities in America, according to WalletHub, are:

1. Las Vegas, NV (63.03 on WalletHub Vice Index)

2. Houston, TX (57.21)

3. Philadelphia, PA (56.83)

4. Los Angeles, CA (55.12)

5. Atlanta, GA (55.11)

6. Denver, CO (53.86)

7. Dallas, TX (53.12)

8. Phoenix, AZ (53.01)

9. Miami, FL (53.01)

10. Cleveland, OH (52.05)

Beyond Cleveland ranking 10th overall among the most sinful cities in America, four other Ohio cities also made the list. Cincinnati ranked 35th, while Columbus (39th), Akron (43rd) and Toledo (44th) all ranked narrowly behind.

WalletHub’s full list of the Most Sinful Cities in America 2023 can be found online.