Despite warnings from law enforcement, health agencies, and educators, America still has a drinking problem. One in six American adults indulges in binge drinking on a single occasion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC defines binge drinking as consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion for men or four or more drinks on a single occasion for women. (Here are 23 ways a drinking habit can harm you.)
As with other behavior, excessive drinking varies from state to state. To identify America’s drunkest states – those in which the highest percentage of residents 18 and older report indulging in binge or heavy drinking with a 30-day period, 24/7 Tempo data from the 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Statistics on the share of driving deaths that involve alcohol and the metro area in every state with the highest percentage of adults drinking excessively also came from the 2023 CHR, and were aggregated from county-level data for the most recent years available.
Binge drinking has the potential for serious health consequences. It can be a factor in chronic conditions such as liver disease, cancer, heart disease, and hypertension. Excessive alcohol use is responsible for more than 140,000 deaths in the United States each year. (Read how deaths from alcohol-related cirrhosis have gone up almost every years since 2000.)
Binge drinking also increases the danger of motor-vehicle accidents. The numbers are sobering. In 2021, 13,384 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths. Every day, about 37 people in America perish in drunk-driving crashes.
The states with the highest rates of excessive drinking are those in the Plains, Midwest, and Far West. Four of the five states with the highest incidence of alcohol-related driving deaths are Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alaska. These are some of America’s largest states by size and motorists sometimes travel long distances after a night of drinking. These areas also are among the coldest in the nation, which may encourage alcohol consumption.
Seven of the 10 states with the lowest binge-drinking rates, perhaps surprisingly, are in the South. Mississippi, with the eighth-lowest excessive drinking rate (16.4%), has the lowest rate of alcohol-related driving deaths, at 18.5%. Utah has by far the lowest incidence of binge drinking at 11.8%, presumably because the state has a large Mormon population that does not drink alcohol.
50. Utah
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 11.8%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 21.7% — 6th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Salt Lake City (14.0%)
49. West Virginia
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 13.5%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 26.1% — 18th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Wheeling (16.8%)
48. Oklahoma
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 13.8%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 26.8% — 20th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Enid (15.2%)
47. Maryland
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 14.6%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 28.3% — 25th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson (17.1%)
46. Illinois
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 15.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 28.8% — 25th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Kankakee (17.2%)
45. Alabama
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 16.1%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.9% — 17th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Daphne-Fairhope-Foley (19.0%)
44. Georgia
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 16.2%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 20.7% — 5th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Gainesville (17.5%)
43. Mississippi
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 16.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 18.5% — the lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Gulfport-Biloxi (18.3%)
42. Kentucky
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 16.8%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.5% — 14th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Louisville/Jefferson County (18.1%)
41. Virginia
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 16.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 30.3% — 21st highest
> Drunkest metro area: Staunton (18.9%)
40. Tennessee
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 23.5% — 10th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin (17.3%)
39. North Carolina
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.9% — 16th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Wilmington (20.3%)
38. Idaho
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.1%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 31.1% — 18th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Lewiston (20.3%)
37. Florida
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.2%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 22.0% — 7th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Homosassa Springs (21.6%)
36. Delaware
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.3%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.0% — 11th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Dover (16.1%)
35. Arizona
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 22.3% — 8th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Lake Havasu City-Kingman (22.3%)
34. Connecticut
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 30.4% — 20th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Norwich-New London (20.8%)
33. New Mexico
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.5%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 29.4% — 23rd highest
> Drunkest metro area: Albuquerque (17.0%)
32. New York
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.6%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 20.2% — 4th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Glens Falls (22.3%)
31. Arkansas
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 17.8%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.7% — 15th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers (18.0%)
30. Washington
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 32.7% — 13th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Bellingham (22.9%)
29. Rhode Island
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.3%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 40.3% — 3rd highest
> Drunkest metro area: Providence-Warwick (20.0%)
28. Indiana
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 19.0% — 2nd lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Bloomington (19.4%)
27. California
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.4%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 27.7% — 23rd lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Santa Rosa-Petaluma (23.2%)
26. Texas
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.6%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.4% — 13th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Sherman-Denison (21.1%)
25. New Jersey
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 18.6%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 22.8% — 9th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Ocean City (23.3%)
24. Hawaii
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 31.5% — 16th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina (21.5%)
23. Ohio
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 32.5% — 14th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Columbus (20.5%)
22. South Carolina
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 32.8% — 12th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Charleston-North Charleston (21.8%)
21. Maine
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 34.4% — 8th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Portland-South Portland (20.3%)
20. Massachusetts
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.3%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 30.5% — 19th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Barnstable Town (24.2%)
19. Wyoming
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.3%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 31.8% — 15th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Casper (19.0%)
18. Kansas
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.7%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 19.4% — 3rd lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Lawrence (20.6%)
17. New Hampshire
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 33.1% — 11th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Manchester-Nashua (20.7%)
16. Oregon
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 27.9% — 24th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Bend (22.6%)
15. Nevada
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 19.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 27.3% — 21st lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Reno (22.6%)
14. Missouri
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 20.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 27.6% — 22nd lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Cape Girardeau (20.8%)
13. Alaska
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 20.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 36.9% — 4th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Anchorage (21.6%)
12. Michigan
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 20.1%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 29.2% — 24th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Bay City (23.8%)
11. Colorado
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 20.3%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 34.0% — 9th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Fort Collins (22.2%)
10. Pennsylvania
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 20.7%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 25.4% — 12th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Pittsburgh (23.0%)
9. South Dakota
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 21.0%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 36.1% — 5th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Rapid City (21.1%)
8. Minnesota
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 21.5%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 29.9% — 22nd highest
> Drunkest metro area: Duluth (24.2%)
7. Louisiana
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 21.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 31.2% — 17th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Houma-Thibodaux (22.7%)
6. Vermont
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 22.1%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 35.4% — 7th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Burlington-South Burlington (20.7%)
5. Nebraska
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 23.2%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 33.2% — 10th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Omaha-Council Bluffs (22.8%)
4. North Dakota
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 23.5%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 41.4% — 2nd highest
> Drunkest metro area: Bismarck (23.1%)
3. Montana
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 23.9%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 46.4% — the highest
> Drunkest metro area: Missoula (24.9%)
2. Iowa
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 24.7%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 26.8% — 19th lowest
> Drunkest metro area: Dubuque (27.4%)
1. Wisconsin
> Adults who drink excessively regularly: 26.1%
> Alcohol-related driving deaths: 35.6% — 6th highest
> Drunkest metro area: Appleton (26.0%)