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These Are The Drunkest States! Check Out The States That Consume The Most Alcohol

States that Consume the Most Alcohol

Perhaps I’m showing my age here, but I definitely have fond feelings of the late 90s rock song “Tubthumping” by the one-hit wonder Chumbawamba. In the late 90s, this was a very popular drinking song, and it is one of a very long line of such types of songs. Part of the lyrics go, “I get knocked down, but I get up again…” and that part always made me laugh. As I was thinking about this song, it got me to wondering just how much alcohol consumption there is that is in each U.S. state. It’s definitely an interesting question, and you might be surprised at some of the facts that I found out.

Before I get into the specific stats though, let’s just make one thing perfectly clear: Americans love their alcohol. All you have to do is look at an April 2020 report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the alcohol consumption from citizens in our country has as high as 7.8 billion gallons in 2018. That’s billion with a “B”, folks. Moreover, Americans also love their beer as well, drinking as much as 6.3 billion gallons. Wine-drinking is a distant second, with Americans drinking about 900 million gallons of it each year. Finally, if you like your spirits, you’re in good company in America, because we have an annual rate of at least 575 million gallons. This all evens out to 2.35 gallons per capita annually – this is just about 501 drinks each year. 

Of course, in a country as large as ours, these cultural habits will vary by region, area, and state. In the West, they have a rate of at least 2.5 gallons per capita; the Southern part of the U.S. has the lowest rate of drinking, with only a rate of 2.23 gallons per person per year. If we break it down even further, we have the Northeast, which is at a rate of 2.41 drinks per capita, and we have the Midwest, which has a whopping 3.27 gallons per capita. Midwesterners definitely enjoy relaxing with a strong drink, that is for sure. 

Of course, this all begs the question: how does YOUR state stack up against the others? Are you higher or lower? We have a handy color-coded map you can take a look at so you can see just how much your home state and all of the other states and Washington, D.C. drink each year. 

The States Which Have the Most Alcoholic Drinks Per Capita
This might come as a shock to you, but the state that the highest amount of alcohol being drank per capita would be in the small state of New Hampshire. Even though this is one of the smallest states in the union, part of the reason why the alcohol consumption is so high is because this state does not have that high of a booze tax. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Utah as the lowest booze-drinking state in the union, and this is probably due in part to the strong religious presence they have there. Mormons have long been known to frown on alcohol, and so Utah hands down has the strictest alcohol laws in our nation. Take a look at the legend here:
States that Consume the Most Alcohol With Ethanol
If you are looking for the states that prefer the harder stuff such as spirits, then look no further than the highly populated states: California, Florida, Texas, and Florida top the list in regards to this category. On the other hand, the relatively small states of Vermont, Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It seems like, at least in this case, the states with the smallest populations also have the smallest consumption of the hard alcohol as well. Take a look at the map right here:
Ranking the States
Of course, it’s interesting to determine just how many gallons of alcohol are consumed per capita. Let’s break it down state by state. First of all, we will list the state, and we will list the specifics gallons of Ethanol consumed per capita in parenthesis:
1. New Hampshire (4.67)
2. Washington, D.C. (3.77)
3. Delaware (3.52)
4. Nevada (3.42)
5. North Dakota (3.16)
6. Montana (3.10)
7. Vermont (3.06)
8. Idaho (2.94)
9. Wisconsin (2.93)
10. Colorado (2.88)
11. Alaska (2.85)
11. Maine (2.85)
13. Minnesota (2.79)
14. Wyoming (2.78)
15. Oregon (2.74)
16. Hawaii (2.66)
17. Rhode Island (2.63)
18. Florida (2.61)
19. Massachusetts (2.55)
19. Louisiana (2.55)
21. Missouri (2.51)
22. California (2.49)
23. Connecticut (2.40)
24. Iowa (2.39)
24. Illinois (2.39)
26. South Dakota (2.37)
27. New Jersey (2.36)
27. Michigan (2.36)
29. Pennsylvania (2.34)
30. New Mexico (2.26)
30. Texas (2.26)
32. Arizona (2.25)
33. Washington (2.22)
34. New York (2.21)
35. North Carolina (2.17)
35. Mississippi (2.17)
37. South Carolina (2.16)
37. Nebraska (2.16)
39. Indiana (2.15)
40. Tennessee (2.14)
41. Virginia (2.13)
42. Maryland (2.08)
43. Ohio (2.03)
44. Alabama (1.99)
45. Kentucky (1.95)
46. Kansas (1.92)
47. Georgia (1.90)
48. Oklahoma (1.85)
49. Arkansas (1.78)
50. West Virginia (1.74)
51. Utah (1.35)

Now let’s take a look at the overall gallons consumed by the state. We will have it in the same format with the state followed by the amount in gallons in millions (M) next to it in parenthesis. Here it is: 

Now let’s take a look at the overall gallons consumed by the state. We will have it in the same format with the state followed by the amount in gallons in millions (M) next to it in parenthesis. Here it is: 

  1. California (81.2M) 
  2. Texas (51.8M) 
  3. Florida (47M) 
  4. New York (36.3M) 
  5. Illinois (25.2M) 
  6. Pennsylvania (25.2M)
  7. Michigan (19.7M) 
  8. Ohio (19.7M) 
  9. North Carolina (18.7M) 
  10. New Jersey (17.5M) 
  11. Georgia (16.4M) 
  12. Virginia (15.1M) 
  13. Massachusetts (15M) 
  14. Wisconsin (14.2M) 
  15. Washington (13.9M) 
  16. Colorado (13.6M) 
  17. Arizona (13.3M) 
  18. Minnesota (12.8M) 
  19. Missouri (12.7M) 
  20. Tennessee (12M) 
  21. Indiana (11.8M) 
  22. Maryland (10.4M) 
  23. Louisiana (9.7M)
  24. Oregon (9.6M) 
  25. South Carolina (9.1M) 
  26. Nevada (8.5M) 
  27. Alabama (8M) 
  28. Connecticut (7.3M) 
  29. Kentucky (7.2M) 
  30. Iowa (6.2M)
  31. Oklahoma (5.9M) 
  32. New Hampshire (5.4M) 
  33. Mississippi (5.3M) 
  34. Kansas (4.5M)
  35. Arkansas (4.4M)
  36. Idaho (4.1M)
  37. New Mexico (3.9M)
  38. Nebraska (3.4M)
  39. Maine (3.3M)
  40. Utah (3.3M)
  41. Hawaii (3.1M)
  42. Delaware (2.9M) 
  43. Montana (2.7M) 
  44. West Virginia (2.7M) 
  45. Rhode Island (2.4M)
  46. Washington, D.C. (2.3M) 
  47. North Dakota (2M) 
  48. Alaska (1.7M) 
  49. Vermont (1.7M) 
  50. South Dakota (1.7M)
  51. Wyoming (1.3M) 

Of course, when most students of history and culture think of alcohol, visions of German beer, Russian vodka, or French wine might come to mind. But as you can see, America enjoys plenty of alcohol in their own right as well.

Of course, when most students of history and culture think of alcohol, visions of German beer, Russian vodka, or French wine might come to mind. But as you can see, America enjoys plenty of alcohol in their own right as well.

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