Researches from the University of Hong Kong and Indiana University have proven that evil-doing can be ranked by state.
According to a new study that measured public corruption from 1976 to 2008, Mississippi is the most corrupt American state, followed by Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Researchers based their findings on over 25,000 convictions of public officials, as well as how much money each state ended up spending as a result of the corruption. Among the top 10 most corrupt states, a yearly average of $1,308 more was spent per capita because crooked officials went unchecked.
"Clearly corrupt officials will encourage activities or businesses that will also provide them with the most benefits, whether they are outright bribes or more legal benefits like campaign contributions," Jon Moen, chairman of the economics department at the University of Mississippi, told The Daily Signal.
"Rarely are these activities that are true to public goods, like elementary education, as they provide few direct monetary benefits that can be appropriated by a politician or private interest."
Alabama, Alaska, South Dakota, Kentucky and Florida make up the rest of the 10 most corrupt states. Some of those states, like Mississippi and Louisiana, are also the poorest in the nation.
The study also named the most common forms of corruption, including construction spending, borrowing and police protection, according to Fortune magazine. Construction spending is perhaps the easiest to manipulate because most of the large-scale projects go over the public's head.
But there are good states in the U.S., too. Utah, Oregon, Washington, Iowa, Colorado and Vermont were among the least corrupt states.
Though the research did not go past 2008, perhaps there is some lasting truth to the findings. In February, New Orleans' former mayor Ray Nagin was found guilty of fraud and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to WWL-TV.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday.
