Americans sure do love their alcohol. According to a Gallup survey, an estimated 63 percent of U.S. citizens over the age of 18 regularly consume alcohol — that’s over 165 million people. And data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reveals that alcohol consumption in the U.S. has been on an upward trajectory since 1995.
In 2022, Americans consumed a whopping 7.9 million gallons of alcohol via beer, wine, and spirits — down slightly from 8.1 billion gallons in 2021. Of the three categories, beer is easily the most consumed by volume, with Americans taking down roughly 6.3 billion gallons per year. Less popular by volume are wine and spirits, with 910.3 million and 715.2 million gallons consumed, respectively. However, when it comes to per capita consumption, spirits take the crown with roughly 1.06 gallons of ethanol from spirits consumed per person per year. Beer trails behind in second with 1.02 gallons of ethanol from beer consumed per capita, while wine comes in last place, with 0.42 gallons.
But do all Americans drink the same? Among the four regions in the U.S., the South consumed the most by volume in 2022, with an overall, cross-category consumption of 2.9 million gallons. Per capita consumption, however, tells a different story. With just 2.38 gallons consumed per person annually, the South actually comes in last when regions are ranked. Instead, the West leads the country with 2.71 gallons drunk per capita. The Midwest and the Northeast are fairly equally matched, with 1.6 million gallons and 1.3 million gallons consumed per year in volume and 2.47 gallons and 2.51 gallons per capita, respectively.
Curious to know how people in your home state drink? Check out our maps below to discover just how much alcohol Americans consume state-to-state both per capita and overall.
The States That Drink the Most Alcohol Per Capita
Of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., New Hampshire leads in per capita alcohol consumption based on numbers alone. However, a further glance at the state reveals a lack of sales tax on alcohol sales, which likely brings in drinkers from surrounding states looking for a deal on their booze. Washington, D.C., comes in second with 4.1 gallons, while Delaware, which similarly has a lack of alcohol sales tax, rounds out the top three, with per capita consumption sitting at 4.07 gallons. On the flip side, Utah, which has some of the strictest alcohol laws in America, comes in dead last for per capita consumption, with just 1.23 gallons consumed per year.
The States That Drink the Most Alcohol in Ethanol
Naturally, the states with the largest populations are the ones that consume the most alcohol by volume. California, the nation’s most populous state, consumes 93.9 million gallons of ethanol from alcohol annually. That’s over 36 million gallons more than Texas’s consumption, which comes in second place with 57.4 million gallons drunk in 2022. Florida isn’t far behind, claiming the third top spot with 56.4 million gallons consumed. Alternately, Wyoming, America’s least populous state, comes in last place for overall consumption, with just 1.4 million gallons drunk.
Ranking the States
Gallons Per Capita
Rank
State
Gallons of Ethanol Per Capita*
1
New Hampshire
4.48
2
Washington, D.C.
4.10
3
Delaware
4.07
4
Nevada
3.66
5
North Carolina
3.31
6
Montana
3.21
7
Wisconsin
3.17
8
Colorado
3.08
9
Vermont
3.06
10
Florida
2.97
11
Wyoming
2.93
12
California
2.88
13
Maine
2.88
14
Minnesota
2.85
15
Massachusetts
2.82
16
Alaska
2.81
17
Oregon
2.80
18
Rhode Island
2.78
19
Louisiana
2.77
20
Missouri
2.75
21
Hawaii
2.70
22
New Jersey
2.53
23
Pennsylvania
2.46
24
Illinois
2.42
25
Tennessee
2.41
26
Arizona
2.40
27
Connecticut
2.40
28
Iowa
2.39
29
New Mexico
2.39
30
Michigan
2.38
31
Texas
2.36
32
North Carolina
2.34
33
Indiana
2.31
34
South Dakota
2.28
35
Mississippi
2.25
36
New York
2.24
37
Washington
2.23
38
Kentucky
2.21
39
Kansas
2.20
40
Virginia
2.18
41
Nebraska
2.16
42
South Carolina
2.13
43
Maryland
2.09
44
Ohio
2.09
45
Alabama
2.00
46
Georgia
1.96
47
Arkansas
1.93
48
Idaho
1.91
49
Oklahoma
1.88
50
West Virginia
1.77
50
Utah
1.23
Gallons Overall
Rank
State
Gallons Overall*
1
California
93.9M
2
Texas
57.4M
3
Florida
56.4M
4
New York
37.2M
5
Pennsylvania
26.9M
6
Illinois
25.4M
7
North Carolina
20.9M
8
Ohio
20.5M
9
Michigan
20.1M
10
New Jersey
29.5M
11
Georgia
17.7M
12
Massachusetts
16.8M
13
Virginia
15.8M
14
Wisconsin
15.6M
15
Colorado
15.1M
16
Arizona
14.8M
17
Washington
14.5M
18
Tennessee
14.1M
19
Missouri
14.1M
20
Minnesota
13.4M
21
Indiana
13.0M
22
Maryland
10.7M
23
Louisiana
10.4M
24
Oregon
10.0M
25
Nevada
9.7M
26
South Carolina
9.4M
27
Alabama
8.4M
28
Kentucky
8.2M
29
Connecticut
7.3M
30
Iowa
6.3M
31
Oklahoma
6.1M
32
Mississippi
5.4M
33
New Hampshire
5.4M
34
Kansas
5.2M
35
Arkansas
4.8M
36
New Mexico
4.2M
37
Delaware
3.4M
38
Nebraska
3.4M
39
Maine
3.4M
40
Utah
3.2M
41
Hawaii
3.2M
42
Montana
3.0M
43
Idaho
3.0M
44
West Virginia
2.6M
45
Rhode Island
2.6M
46
Washington, D.C.
2.3M
47
North Dakota
2.1M
48
Vermont
1.7M
49
South Dakota
1.6M
50
Alaska
1.6M
51
Wyoming
1.4M
*This data uses an estimate of average ethanol content of sold or shipped spirits into gallons of ethanol (pure alcohol) before calculating per capita consumption estimates. For this data, the alcohol by volume value is 0.129 for wine, 0.045 for beer, and 0.411 for spirits.
**Image retrieved from Mike Maniatis via stock.adobe.com
The article The States That Drink the Most Alcohol in America (2024) [MAP] appeared first on VinePair.