How sinful is Utah? A new study says ‘not very’

A new study by WalletHub ranked Utah the 43rd most sinful state, according to data on things like binge drinking, volunteer rate and average time spent on adult entertainment sites. | Shutter Stock

Utahns are active and sober — but also pretty vain — according to a new study by WalletHub

Just how virtuous are Utahns, anyway?

According to a new study by the personal finance website WalletHub, Utah is among the least traditionally “sinful” states. The study compared all 50 states across 47 “key indicators of immorality,” grouped into seven main categories: anger and hatred; excesses and vices; greed; jealousy; laziness; lust; and vanity. Utah was ranked the 43rd most sinful state overall.

In the “excesses and vices” category, Utah finished dead last. That category included data on the state’s share of obese adults, the prevalence of binge and heavy drinking among adults, and the number of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents. Utah also ranked 49th in greed, which included data on casinos, gambling-related arrests per capita, and charitable donations as share of income. The laziness category, which factored in share of adults not exercising, average weekly hours worked and volunteer rate, had Utah finishing 48th.

In the lust and jealousy categories, Utah was slightly below average: 31st in lust and 29th in jealousy, respectively. The lust category included stats on teen birth rate, Google searches for adult entertainment and average time spent on adult entertainment sites. The jealousy category, meanwhile, factored in thefts per capita, identity theft complaints per capita, and fraud and other complaints per capita.

When it comes to vanity, however, Utah ranked 21st — the only category in which Utah was above the national average. Beauty salons per capita, Google searches for the five most common plastic surgeries (breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty and facelift), and expenditures per household on personal care products and services were included when determining a state’s vanity.

According to the WalletHub study, America’s 10 most sinful states are as follows:

1. Nevada

2. Texas

3. Florida

4. California

5. Georgia

6. Tennessee

7. Louisiana

8. Illinois

9. South Carolina

10. Mississippi

The bottom 10, meanwhile, were ranked thusly:

41. North Dakota

42. Minnesota

43. Utah

44. Iowa

45. South Dakota

46. New Hampshire

47. Maine

48. Idaho

49. Wyoming

50. Vermont

For more information on the study, visit WalletHub.com.

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