For almost as long as South Dakota has been on the map, people in these parts have been touting our long-standing tradition of good, clean living.

And once again the rest of the country is taking notice.

In the annual ranking of America's Most 'Sinful' States. WalletHub put the Mount Rushmore State near the bottom for the third straight year.

South Dakota is 45th overall on the 'sin scale', which is sixth-best in the country and a slight improvement over tenth place showings both last year and in 2018.

To arrive at each state's 'sin ranking' WalletHub looked at 47 key indicators like drinking, crime, and gambling numbers, and broke those down into seven key dimensions:

  • Anger and Hatred
  • Jealousy
  • Excesses and Vices
  • Greed
  • Lust
  • Vanity
  • Laziness

South Dakota was among the ten best states in jealousy, lust, vanity, and laziness. Our lack of vanity was in part attributed to the state having the fifth-fewest beauty salons per capita in America.

We didn't fare so well in both anger/hatred (17th overall) and greed (19th overall). South Dakotans also a hit when it came to alcohol consumption. We have the second-highest excessive drinking rate in the U.S. behind only Iowa.

LEAST 'SINFUL' STATES (WalletHub)

  1. Vermont
  2. Wyoming
  3. Idaho
  4. Maine
  5. New Hampshire
  6. South Dakota 
  7. Iowa
  8. Utah
  9. Minnesota
  10. North Dakota

When it came to the 'naughty' list, it was no surprise that the state which is home to 'Sin City' (Las Vegas) is also the most 'sinful' state in America.

Nevada finished in the top ten of every category, except vanity.

MOST 'SINFUL' STATES (WalletHub)

  1. Nevada
  2. Texas
  3. Florida
  4. California
  5. Georgia
  6. Tennessee
  7. Louisiana
  8. Illinois
  9. South Carolina
  10. Mississippi

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