Las Vegas is Sin City. No really, they did a survey
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Sigh … If you hadn’t heard, Las Vegas is still Sin City. The King of Sin Cities.
A WalletHub survey released Monday morning confirms it. But if Houston is embarrassed about its No. 2 ranking, or No. 3 Philadelphia wants to talk about its good qualities, Las Vegas wears it like a badge.
It’s been less than a week since the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) — the agency behind “What Happens in Las Vegas Stays in Las Vegas” — came out with a campaign called “Excessive Celebration Encouraged” for Super Bowl LVIII in February.
And when the CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix said Las Vegas is now Sports City, WalletHub has got 37 data points that say it’s still Sin City.
And riding the considerable coattails of Sin City, North Las Vegas came in at No. 15 on the list of 182 cities — right below New York City and above Chicago. Henderson was at No. 24 and Reno was ranked No. 27.
“Every city struggles with one flaw or another, from high bullying rates and frequent hate crimes to a prevalence of binge eating and excessive drinking among residents,” according to Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst. “While it is a personal choice to indulge in one vice or another, these choices can have a financial impact on others in the community, especially when more and more residents partake in these activities.”
Well, goody for Cassandra Happe.
“While Vegas may have a hold on the greedy and excessive folks, second-place Houston has almost as many options for those looking to indulge their lustful side, with the city’s high concentration of adult entertainment venues. On the other hand, residents of third-ranked Philadelphia have a history of researching plastic surgery options, which could be a sign of their vanity,” Happe said.
The Las Vegas Strip is proof positive that sin works here.
“Las Vegas tops the list of the most sinful cities this year,” the survey reports. “The city has a ’round-the-clock nightlife as well as an abundance of casinos that make you forget what time it is and how much you can afford to wager. Plus, there’s no shortage of adult entertainment options in Sin City – not to mention a plethora of buffets to pig out on, spas in which to channel your inner sloth and more.”
One of my best friends is a sloth, and I take exception on his behalf.
The deck is clearly stacked against Vegas in this game. Here are the metrics used to order the list, with each category worth 14.3 points toward the total:
- Anger & Hatred — nine crimes, notably including mass shootings and other violent crimes
- Jealousy — theft, identity theft complaints and fraud complaints
- Excesses & Vices — 10 types of substance abuse, drug use, obesity and (gasp) debt-to-income ratio.
- Greed — casinos per capita, share of adults with gambling disorders, and “charitable donations as share of income” … well, they’ve got us there. Guess they’re not big Gordon Gecko fans.
- Lust — a tawdry collection of adult entertainment sites, including Google and Tinder stats that seal the deal. Also, teen birth rate.
- Vanity — tanning salons per capita and a Google score on plastic surgery searches
- Laziness — six scores (judgy, if you ask us) related to exercise, hours worked, volunteering and TV watching. Also includes high school dropout rate and “disconnected youth,” who are age 16-24 not in school and without a job.
Las Vegas ranked first in Greed, surely on the strength of “casinos per capita.” There’s also a No. 4 ranking for Laziness, but we won’t waste our breath on that one. Excesses & Vices? Las Vegas was clear down at No. 84. See the full survey on WalletHub.
To be fair, Las Vegas earned some positive remarks with its low ranking for DUI-related fatalities per capita — among the lowest in the nation.
The survey isn’t without its valid points: “No place is innocent – we all have flaws, and at some point, we all have to pay for our vices. Gambling addiction, for instance, leads to over $100 billion in losses for U.S. consumers every year, while smoking burns an over $600 billion hole in Uncle Sam’s wallet annually.”
