The States That Drink the Most Alcohol in America (2023) [MAP] (2024)

FAQs

What state drinks the most alcohol in 2023? ›

Among the 50 states and Washington D.C., New Hampshire takes the crown for the most alcohol consumed per capita, reporting 4.43 gallons per capita per year.

States That Consume the Most Alcohol by Volume

When it comes to alcohol consumption by volume, California tops the table at 85.7 million gallons of alcohol consumed by Californians per year (2020 data).

For women, having eight or more alcoholic drinks in one week is labeled as heavy drinking, while for men, that benchmark is 15 or more drinks. After reviewing the available data, the University of Wisconsin found its own state, Wisconsin, had the highest rate, 25%, of self-reported excessive drinkers.

Vodka. Vodka is the most consumed liquor in the United States - and has been since 1970. Around 78.1 million cases of the spirit were sold in the U.S. in 2021.

Of all states, Arunachal Pradesh has the highest proportion of both men (53%) and women (24%) who drink alcohol. The level of alcohol consumption among men is 30-40% in parts of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, and a few districts of Odisha.

The overall driest county is Utah's eponymous county, Utah, with only 9.04 percent of the population considered as excess drinkers. Greene, Alabama (9.44 percent), Catron, New Mexico (10.24), Phillips, Arkansas (10.36), and McDowell, Virginia (10.38) are also among some of the lowest-ranked counties.

Kansas's alcohol laws are among the strictest in the United States. Kansas prohibited all alcohol from 1881 to 1948, and continued to prohibit on-premises sales of alcohol from 1949 to 1987. Sunday sales only have been allowed since 2005. Today, 3 counties still do not permit the on-premises sale of alcohol.

Where is the highest rate of alcoholism? ›

Utah has the lowest consumption of alcohol, with alcohol consumption per capita of 1.34 gallons. This is most likely attributed to the strict alcohol regulations in Utah.

Highest Alcohol Consumption by State

The 10 states with the highest alcohol consumption levels in the US are New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Maine, Delaware, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Pennsylvania. These states have higher per capita alcohol consumption than any other states in the country.

Excessive drinking during the Covid-19 pandemic increased alcoholic liver disease deaths so much that the condition killed more Californians than car accidents or breast cancer. California is the state where people drink the most in the U.S., with 88.59 million gallons of ethanol consumed in 2021.

Cape Town has been dubbed the “drinking capital” of the country, with a study by the Department of Health finding that more than 50 percent of its people consume alcohol – and that a third of this group abuse it.

・ The Czech Republic consumed 188.5 liters of beer per capita, remaining the world's top in per-capita beer consumption for the 30th consecutive year since 1993. ・ Among the top 35 countries, eight countries saw a decrease in per-capita consumption from 2021 to 2022.

The prevalence is estimated at around 8.7% for alcohol abuse and 7.9% for tobacco abuse, Arunachal Pradesh state ranking the highest regarding both alcohol and tobacco abuse, while the Tripura state ranked the lowest.

Belarus, which ranks first, consumes 14.4 liters of alcohol per capita each year — roughly 48 handles of vodka per person. This is over 1.5 times more than Americans. Slovenia, which ranks 10th, consumes 10.6 liters of alcohol per capita — nearly 4 liters less than Belarus.

States With High Percentage Alcohol By Volume

North Carolina (15%), South Dakota (14%), and Georgia (14%) all have high levels of alcohol by volume.