Tanner Conley
Staff Writer
According to a new survey published by WalletHub, Wyoming has been ranked 49out of the 50 states for ‘sinful behavior’. Only beaten by Vermont, Wyoming came in with a ‘Vice Index’ of 27.74 while the national leader, Nevada, scored 55.99.
“I would say Wyoming is a very sinful state,” said Noah Iberlin, a junior at UW and resident Wyomingite. “Just look at our history, we grew up robbing stuff, shooting people and stealing land. Wyoming is made up of many small towns, [and] I feel like there is not a lot to do. So, you and your friends find yourself getting into trouble when you’re bored.”
The survey measured “sinfulness” as a combined total of seven categories: Anger & Hatred, Jealousy, Excesses & Vices, Greed, Lust, Vanity and Laziness.
Each category was calculated using a plethora of different metrics that were then added to the total score in order to calculate that particular “sin value” per state. Each category of ‘sin’ was valued at 14.3 points.
For example, combining thefts per capita, identity-theft complaints per capita and fraud & other complaints per capita calculated ‘Jealousy’. Each sub-category was assigned a value of about 4.77 points resulting in the 14.3 total. Multiply the 14.3 times the 7 categories and the result is 100.1.
Wyoming ranked 45in ‘Jealousy,’ its second lowest category behind ‘Greed’ and ‘Vanity,’ which were tied at 46. Wyoming’s highest rank was in the ‘Lust’ category coming in at 29 out of 50.
The ‘Lust’ category was calculated by compiling the following: teen birth rate, Google Search Interest Index for “XXX Entertainment,” average time spent on spent on adult entertainment sites and persons arrested for prostitution and commercialized vice per capita.
“Throughout my whole high school career in Bighorn, there was only one teen pregnancy, so to hear that (we ranked that low) is surprising to me. Maybe since there is not a huge population of females in Wyoming, people might go to the internet, which may bring those numbers up,” Iberlin said.
Nevada ranked first in the nation for ‘Greed,’ which may not be surprising considering the prevalence of gambling in Nevada, especially on the Las Vegas Strip. This can be even less surprising considering the sin of ‘Greed’ was measured in casinos per capita, gambling-related arrests per capita, charitable donations as share of income, share of population with gambling disorders and persons arrested for embezzlement per capita.
Texas was the nation’s most lustful state, Georgia was the most jealous, Mississippi the laziest, Arkansas the angriest, New York the vainest and Kentucky had the most vices.
“I feel like we do a bunch of sinful stuff, but we just aren’t caught,” Iberlin said.
The sin does not stop there, however. According to a study published Nov. 18, 2019 by WalletHub, two Wyoming cities made the top 182 of the United States most sinful cities. This study included the 150 most populated cities in the U.S. and the two most populated cities from each state, adding to a total of 182 cities. Instead of the 47-relevant metrics used in the state tests, this study used 39 from the same seven categories.
Casper ranked 125 with an overall total ‘Vice Index’ of 33.26. Cheyenne followed close behind at 121 overall with 33.94. This study argued both of these cities are actually more sinful than the entire state, which according to some residents makes perfect sense.
Casper ranked the lowest in ‘Greed’, ranking 26 out of the 182 cities and ranked highest in ‘Jealousy’ at 166. Cheyenne’s lowest rank was 84 in ‘Anger’ and highest in ‘Vanity’ at 150.
Unsurprisingly, “Sin City” itself is the most sinful city in the U.S. Las Vegas ranks four points higher than any other city with a “Vice Index” of 60.80. Los Angeles, California is next with 56.50, followed by St. Louis, Missouri. Denver, Colorado finished 10th on the list and was propelled by an 8th place finish in the ‘Lust’ category and 16th in the ‘Vanity’ category.
While the thoroughness of this study cannot be denied, questions have been raised about the accuracy of measuring modern day civilization using rules set down in the 6th century B.C.E.
“A lot of things have changed; technology, how people act, dress, all that,” Iberlin said. “It might be time to go a different way.”
