Two Massachusetts Communities Named “Most Sinful” in the U.S.

Historians agree that bars in Massachusetts are about as old as the state itself. Early settlers wasted no time setting up local taverns before schoolhouses in some cases.

In fact, Massachusetts is home to what are believed to be the oldest bars in the United States like the Green Dragon Tavern which dates back to 1654, or Warren Tavern in Charlestown which was the first building to be erected in Charlestown after the British burned the whole town during the Battle of Bunker Hill in June of 1775.

At the beginning of 2024, Massachusetts was home to 828 bars and 1,645 beer, wine, and liquor stores. That's a lot of drunk people. And don't forget to add in the 114 colleges and beer-guzzling Boston sports fans.

As far as how much alcohol Massachusetts consumes compared to the rest of the 50 states, we're basically right in the middle. In VinePair's recent ranking of how much alcohol each state drinks, Massachusetts landed number 21.

So we know Massachusetts residents like to drink, but just how sinful are they? WalletHub recently compiled a study on the 'most sinful' cities in the United States. To reach their results, the analytics company compared almost 200 U.S. cities across 37 key indicators of "vices and illicit behavior" including but not limited to violent crimes per capita, excessive drinking, and the number of adult entertainment establishments per capita.

Two Massachusetts Cities Named Most Sinful in America

According to the WalletHub study, both Boston and Worcester were named as some of the most sinful cities in the U.S. They made the list at 83 and 165, respectively.

Not surprisingly, Las Vegas,  Nevada came in as the most sinful city in the United States.