Jump to content

The Drunkest States In America


Mac8111

Recommended Posts

 

Discuss 

These are the drunkest states in America, ranked

Source: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/

By Christian Smith

August 5, 2021

America is a huge country, and thus it's only reasonable to note that drinking rates across the nation vary considerably. A new study has revealed the drunkest states in America, based on a number of factors including binge drinking rates and alcohol-related deaths.

The drunkest states in America

While there are some surprise states high up the list, the lowest-ranked state, Utah, will not come as a shock to many. Utah has the reputation of being a "dry state", largely due to its restrictive and somewhat complicated liquor laws, and comes out as the least-drunk state.

The study comes courtesy of 24/7 Wall Street.

Binge-drinking was defined as advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - "four or more drinks in a single occasion for women and five or more for men." Heavy drinking is defined as at least eight drinks per week for women and 15 for men.

While Utah came out as the least-drunk state in America, with just 12.2% of its population drinking excessively, Wisconsin was ranked as the drunkest state, with a whopping 24.2% of its population drinking excessively - five percent higher than the national average.

Here is the ranking from drunkest to least drunk in full:

Wisconsin

North Dakota

Iowa

Nebraska

Minnesota

Illinois

Massachusetts

Alaska

Hawaii

Montana

New Hampshire

Colorado

Maine

Ohio

Wyoming

Missouri

Rhode Island

Michigan

Louisiana

Texas

Vermont

Nevada

California

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

New York

Kansas

Oregon

New Jersey

Indiana

Washington

Virginia

South Carolina

Kentucky

Florida

Connecticut

North Carolina

Delaware

Arizona

Maryland

Idaho

New Mexico

Arkansas

Georgia

Tennessee

Oklahoma

Alabama

Mississippi

West Virginia

Utah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

  • Hook 'Em 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

Bible Belt .....at least WVA, Alabama and Miss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, irishtexan said:

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

they’re all hooked on oxy. alcohol is for children in those states. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, irishtexan said:

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

Who needs alcohol when you have meth?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having spent a fair amount of time in Wisconsin over the last couple of decades, I can confirm that it is a terrific drinking state.  It seems there is a bar on every corner, including in the small towns.  Once went to a high school baseball game in N. Wisconsin and the concession stand sold beer (and brats of course).  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve been to Wisconsin once.  They drink like fish.  Granted it was the weekend of a Cowboys/Packers playoff game (Dez caught the fuckin ball!), but those folks can pick it up and put it down.  Loved the fact that unlimited keg beer was included in the $20 price to park in someone’s front yard.  There were 6 of us, we got our money’s worth out of that deal.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Louisiana is way underreporting.

Hard alcohol is available everywhere.  Single beer coolers are a major focal point of all convenience stores, both chain and local. You can readily find margaritas/ cocktails to go at drive throughs.

 

One notch above Texas?  LOLz.  Not remotely my experience, having lived in both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Only been to West Virginia twice.  The last time was for our game there in 2015.  It was a noon kickoff local time.  Our plane was late into Pittsburgh and we got there late and we thought we were being all crazy pants having a beer or bloody mary (or two) on the drive down to Morgantown.  Everybody in that fucking town was drinking like it was the End of the World.  Like they had lost limbs in a Civil War battle, and the doctor was coming to saw off their rotting leg. 

I've seen more fun tailgates, I've seen bigger/more impressive alcohol spreads.  I've been to some crazy events in my lifetime with debauchery that would make Keith Richards blush.  But this was just thousands and thousands of people just slamming hard liquor and beer as fast they could from as many containers as they could, pausing only to dry heave and maybe eat a bite from 10:30am-noon.  I'll never see anything like it again.  And they were the nicest fucking people.  They'd welcome you there, pass you a shot, wish you good day, and then just get back to chugging straight liquor with a chaser that was like 3 tall-boys of beer.  And they'd pause for a minute, catch their breath, spit out the excess saliva their body produced to protect their 9 teeth from the pending vomit, and do the whole thing over again.  It was surreal.  

Even their athletic department liaisons that met our bus and took us to brunch, even they were fucked up.  They were already 10 drinks in before we ordered our first pitcher of beer.  But everybody was so damn nice.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/8/2021 at 1:39 PM, Lobo said:

Only been to West Virginia twice.  The last time was for our game there in 2015.  It was a noon kickoff local time.  Our plane was late into Pittsburgh and we got there late and we thought we were being all crazy pants having a beer or bloody mary (or two) on the drive down to Morgantown.  Everybody in that fucking town was drinking like it was the End of the World.  Like they had lost limbs in a Civil War battle, and the doctor was coming to saw off their rotting leg. 

I've seen more fun tailgates, I've seen bigger/more impressive alcohol spreads.  I've been to some crazy events in my lifetime with debauchery that would make Keith Richards blush.  But this was just thousands and thousands of people just slamming hard liquor and beer as fast they could from as many containers as they could, pausing only to dry heave and maybe eat a bite from 10:30am-noon.  I'll never see anything like it again.  And they were the nicest fucking people.  They'd welcome you there, pass you a shot, wish you good day, and then just get back to chugging straight liquor with a chaser that was like 3 tall-boys of beer.  And they'd pause for a minute, catch their breath, spit out the excess saliva their body produced to protect their 9 teeth from the pending vomit, and do the whole thing over again.  It was surreal.  

Even their athletic department liaisons that met our bus and took us to brunch, even they were fucked up.  They were already 10 drinks in before we ordered our first pitcher of beer.  But everybody was so damn nice.  

 

This was almost exactly our experience there.

But everyone was smoking weed too.  And this was in 2013 when it still wasn't legal anywhere besides Colorado.

Like I said upthread, I'm from the #3 drunkest state and live spitting distance from #1 and #5, and I was slack-jawed in awe.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/6/2021 at 10:57 AM, irishtexan said:

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

Do you even meth?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/6/2021 at 9:57 AM, irishtexan said:

I call shenanigans on West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississsippi being top-5 least drunk. I'm guessing their overall drunkenness is being underreported because of all the white lightning being produced and consumed on the hush-hush.

Utah, otoh, makes perfect sense.

Maybe everyone's just on meth and Oxy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

My neighbor is from Wisconsin.  Trying to keep up with him is problematic....

Yep visited with a friend when I was 22. It was crazy and nonstop drinking. I could put some shit away but I remember these old ass ladies just hanging out at the cookout pounding Bloody Marys that had so much damn vodka they tasted like shit. 

Edited by Zepol87
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

About 15 years ago company I was working for at the time had a satellite office in Waterloo, IA.   Crew of them came down to Dallas for some meeting, work bullshit.  We go out.  Now all those women could drink but there was this one woman who had to weigh 105 lbs soaking wet who just knocked them the fuck back.  Hard drink after hard drink after hard drink, shot, shot, shot, oh sure I will try that beer, beer beer beer, etc etc etc.  Marian Ravenwood of fucking Iowa.  Shows up the next morning like nothing happened.  

How? I asked

What else do you think we have to do in Iowa from November until April but drink and screw.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

About 15 years ago company I was working for at the time had a satellite office in Waterloo, IA.   Crew of them came down to Dallas for some meeting, work bullshit.  We go out.  Now all those women could drink but there was this one woman who had to weigh 105 lbs soaking wet who just knocked them the fuck back.  Hard drink after hard drink after hard drink, shot, shot, shot, oh sure I will try that beer, beer beer beer, etc etc etc.  Marian Ravenwood of fucking Iowa.  Shows up the next morning like nothing happened.  
How? I asked
What else do you think we have to do in Iowa from November until April but drink and screw.

Checks out. Waterloo people aren’t to be trifled with.

The only thing I would argue is that I don’t think the winter is the cause of the heavy upper Midwest drinking. It’s not like anyone slows down in the summer. I blame the prevalent Catholicism and mild Protestantism (Lutherans, Methodists) and the prevalence of German and Czech ancestry. We don’t have many Baptists up here, and everyone is only 4-5 generations max from Europe’s great drinking countries.

At least that’s my hypothesis
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:


Checks out. Waterloo people aren’t to be trifled with.

The only thing I would argue is that I don’t think the winter is the cause of the heavy upper Midwest drinking. It’s not like anyone slows down in the summer. I blame the prevalent Catholicism and mild Protestantism (Lutherans, Methodists) and the prevalence of German and Czech ancestry. We don’t have many Baptists up here, and everyone is only 4-5 generations max from Europe’s great drinking countries.

At least that’s my hypothesis

thats-good-knowledge-good-to-know.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We lived in Wisconsin for awhile. I think the state has been ranked in the top for many years. If I recall, people used to tell us when we moved there that it was per capita the highest for brandy consumption, so not just beer.

Nothing quite like sitting on Memorial Terrace overlooking the lake on a beautiful fall day with a beer and a brat.

We were fortunate enough to live there as the craft beers and tasting festivals were just getting underway and were fairly cheap for a young couple. Buy a ticket and get a glass and try all the different stouts and weizens and beer made with the famous Door County cherries. We went to the first five or so they had and then I got pregnant and we moved away. Fun times, though. Fish fry and a beer, brat and a beer, deer cabin and beer.

And the point about the bar being in every small town--it's the gathering place for sure.

I grew up in the south, however, and everything was much more hush hush, sin wagon, and judgey with it.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Spent the week in the Hawkeye State.  Shooting the shit after a meeting, and dude says he owns 16 classic Ford Mustangs.  I turn to female manager of local workgroup and ask her what she does away from work.  
 

“I drink beer.  A lot of it.”

I just started laughing as it sparked my memory to this thread.  Busch fucking Light seems to be the staple here, so the beer lover in me keeps asking, “ Why do they chug so much beer flavored water?”

This morning leaving the hotel for my 5am flight, it was 7 fucking degrees.  That answered part of my question right there.  Did enjoy some Confluence brews and Exile Ruthie while here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...