Study ranks Tennessee as angriest, most hateful on list of 'most sinful' states

Kelli Krebs
Knoxville

Is the Volunteer State really the most angry and hateful state in the country?

According a recent study ranking 2019's Most Sinful States in America, that could be the case.  

The study, conducted by WalletHub, ranked Tennessee as the angriest and most hateful state and fifth most sinful state overall. It compared all 50 states through their proclivity to commit what are traditionally known as the "seven deadly sins": Anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.

Those categories were then measured across 43 relevant metrics — ranging from violent crimes per capita to excessive drinking to share of the population with gambling disorders. An overall ranking was calculated for each state based off a weighted average across all metrics.

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For example, the anger and hatred category used the following statistics to determine each state's rank:

  • violent crimes per capita
  • sex offenders per capita
  • hate-crime incidents per capita
  • hate groups per capita
  • bullying rate
  • shared maltreated children (prevalence of physical, psychological or sexual abuse and maltreatment among children)
  • shared maltreated adults (the prevalence of rape, physical abuse and or stalking and emotional abuse among men and women by an intimate partner)
  • teen dating violence
  • share of hostile internet comments
  • discrimination cases per adult population
  • mass shootings
  • firearm deaths per capita 
  • aggravated assault
  • elder-abuse, gross neglect, exploitation complaints

Tennessee was tied with Alaska and New Mexico for the most violent crimes per capita, according to the study.

Other rankings

So is anger and hatred Tennessee's only shortcoming? Not necessarily.

While Tennessee did receive lower rankings in two categories, it made the Top 10 in two other categories. The state was No. 3 in lust and took the No. 10 spot in excesses and vices. It received No. 14 rankings in both jealousy and greed, No. 19 ranking in laziness and was No. 22 in vanity.

The most sinful state? That title appropriately belongs to the home of Sin City.

Overall, Nevada is the No. 1 most sinful state in the country and also claimed the top spot in the greed category. Florida, California, and Texas claimed the No. 2-4 spots, respectively. 

Photo of an office building in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee  with the US and Tennessee flags on poles.

Top 10 Most Sinful States

1. Nevada

2. Florida

3. California

4. Texas

5. Tennessee

6. Louisiana

7. Georgia

8. Illinois

9. Michigan

10. Arizona

Find the full study here.