Map Shows The Drunkest States In America

Rob Fox10 years ago

Earlier, we showed you the drunkest countries in the world, wherein the United States ranked somewhere in the upper middle. We’re in the Goldilocks zone of alcoholism–enough that it’s fun, not so much that it’s depressing (cough, Russia, cough). But how do these United States measure up individually? The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has the answer in its annual surveillance report, which measures the following:

…they break down “apparent” per capita alcohol consumption as well as which types of tipple are trending. Numbers are based on sales figures, and represent ages 14 and up.

Since the NIAAA is most concerned with how much actual alcohol we’re consuming, they distill the data to gallons of pure ethanol.

According to Healthy People 2020, the absolute maximum amount a person can consume and still be considered healthy is 2.1 gallons per year. The United States averages 2.33. I’m proud of you, guys.

Here’s the map:

And here are the state-by-state rankings:

1. New Hampshire 4.65

2. Dist. of Columbia 3.89

3. Delaware 3.59

4. North Dakota 3.42

5. Nevada 3.27

6. Wisconsin 3

7. Montana 2.96

8. Vermont 2.92

9. Alaska 2.82

10. Colorado 2.76

11. Idaho 2.76

12. South Dakota 2.76

13. Florida 2.72

14. Rhode Island 2.72

15. Minnesota 2.7

16. Wyoming 2.67

17. Maine 2.65

18. Oregon 2.65

19. Louisiana 2.6

20. Massachusetts 2.57

21. Hawaii 2.54

22. Arizona 2.43

23. Missouri 2.42

24. Connecticut 2.39

25. Iowa 2.39

26. New Jersey 2.39

27. Illinois 2.36

28. New Mexico 2.36

29. California 2.35

30. South Carolina 2.33

31. Nebraska 2.32

32. Michigan 2.29

33. Texas 2.28

34. Pennsylvania 2.26

35. Washington 2.25

36. Maryland 2.21

37. Mississippi 2.2

38. New York 2.17

39. Virginia 2.13

40. North Carolina 2.05

41. Ohio 2.03

42. Alabama 2

43. Tennessee 2

44. Georgia 1.99

45. Indiana 1.97

46. Kansas 1.95

47. Oklahoma 1.94

48. Kentucky 1.87

49. Arkansas 1.81

50. West Virginia 1.81

51. Utah 1.37

Dear God, New Hampshire. What are you people doing up there? While the rest of us were piddling around with our light beers and whiskey diets, the people of New Hampshire were throwing power hours with mason jars full of moonshine. I like to imagine it was with a live folk band that switched up fiddle-heavy songs every minute. Excuse me while I start buying up livers on the black market and move to New Hampshire. It’s also no surprise that Utah pulls up the rear; however, the state does rank first in warm glass of milk consumption (probably).

All in all, the results are pretty impressive. Thirty-eight states, along with the District of Columbia, all rated above the “healthy” average. Party in the USA.

[via Esquire]