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See how and why Portland ranked on a list of sinful cities

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Despite nearly breaking last year’s homicide record, the recent discovery of an illegitimate magic mushroom shop, and having more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the U.S., Portland still isn’t exceeding other cities in the sin category.

Personal finance website WalletHub evaluated the 150 most populated cities in the nation on seven key factors: anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.

After using those metrics to rank each big city, and pulling data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau and the CDC, WalletHub compiled a list of 2022’s Most Sinful Cities in America. According to the website, Portland is No. 30.

The Rose City had an overall score of 44.20 on WalletHub’s Vice Index that considers elements such as the number of mass shootings, thefts per 1,000 residents and the share of population using marijuana.

At No. 11, Portland did stand much higher in the “Lust” category, which does look at adult entertainment establishments per capita and the erotic or burlesque events per capita.

This ranking does ring true for Portland. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, a project of the Oregon Historical Society, there is one strip club for every 11,826 Portlanders.

Cities like New Orleans, Miami and Las Vegas are famous for their nightlife, yet haven’t outranked Portland in the “lust” regard. This could be credited to Portland’s history as a bustling port town inhabited with seasonal workers that frequented brothels, saloons, gambling halls and more.

Other Pacific Northwestern cities may not have the same history as Portland, but they still made Wallethub’s top 100.

Other PNW cities, and their WalletHub “Sinful” Ranking

Here are the most sinful cities, overall.

Top 10 Sinful Cities, According to WalletHub

  1. Las Vegas, NV
  2. St. Louis, MO
  3. Philadelphia, PA
  4. Houston, TX
  5. Atlanta, GA
  6. Los Angeles, CA
  7. Denver, CO
  8. Chicago, IL
  9. Baton Rouge, LA
  10. Phoenix, AZ

At No. 30, Portland is right in between Columbia, S.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio.