There are plenty of people who like a glass of wine, a pint of beer or a cocktail now and again, and while lots of people can enjoy their alcoholic beverages in moderation, there are plenty of people out there who drink regularly, and sometimes way too much. So, where do most of these people live?
24/7 Wall Street set out to find the "Most Drunk State" in the United States.
The used excessive drinking data from the 2020 Country Health Rankings & Roadmaps, released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. They also looked at the percentage of men and women 18 and over who report excessive drinking, as well as health outcomes like driving deaths that are alcohol related and more.
In the top 10, many of the states with the highest drinking rates were located in the Midwest. In fact, the top six state were all midwestern. Surprisingly, seven of the ten states with the lowest excessive drinking rates are in the South. Overall, Wisconsin in the drunkest state in the U.S., with 24.2% of adults drinking excessively. Madison is the drunkest metro area in Wisconsin, with 27.8% of adults drinking excessively.
Where did Florida land? Not in the top ten?!? Florida is the 35th drunkest state in the country. See the top ten below and the full states for the sunshine state below that.
Top Ten Drunkest States in the U.S.
- Wisconsin
- North Dakota
- Iowa
- Nebraska
- Minnesota
- Illinois
- Massachusetts
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Montana
Not all that surprising is the least drunk state in the U.S., is Utah, where only 12.2% of adults drink excessively.
Florida
- Adults drinking excessively: 17.1% (US share: 19.0%)
- Pct. driving deaths that are alcohol related: 23.3% — 8th lowest (US share: 27.8%)
- Adults in poor of fair health: 17.5% — 23rd highest (US share: 17.2%)
- Poverty rate: 12.7% — 19th highest (US rate: 12.3%)
- Drunkest metro area in Florida: Jacksonville
- Adults drinking excessively in Jacksonville: 19.8% (123rd highest among all 384 metro areas)
- Drunkest county in Florida: St. Johns
- Adults drinking excessively in St. Johns: 22.4% (170th highest among all 3,142 counties)