Drink. Drank. Drunk. Every year the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ranks states for alcohol consumption. It’s basically a listing of the drunkest states in America. This years drunkest state in America is… New Hampshire! Live free or drink!
The report is based on what’s called “apparent” per capita alcohol consumption, which combines numbers based on sales figures represent ages 14 and up. Esquire has a good breakdown of that this means:
Since the NIAAA is most concerned with how much actual alcohol we’re consuming, they distill the data to gallons of pure ethanol. Healthy People 2020, a government organization that sets wellness goals for our populace, has declared the “national objective” of no more than 2.1 gallons per person, per year.
In layman’s terms, that’s about 25 bottles of whiskey, 88 bottles of wine, or 320 bottles of beer. Actual average American consumption was 2.33 gallons, up just a hair over last year.
People in New Hampshire drink twice the national average of 2.33 gallons a year. Here’s the total breakdown. How does your state stack up?
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