The 5 Most Sober Cities in America

In the recent 24/7 Wall St. article “The Drunkest (and Driest) Cities in America,” the “drunken” part of the list attracted the most attention from readers and the media. The other end of the list is also worth a look.

How we put together the ranking:

Across the country, the share of adults who drink to excess varies widely. While nationwide, 18% of adults drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol on average, only 9.2% do in Provo-Orem, Utah, and as many as 26.8% do in Appleton, Wisconsin. To identify the drunkest and least drunk cities in the United States, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed self-reported binge and heavy drinking rates among adults in U.S. metro areas from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.

The five most sober cities, ranked starting with the best on the list:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah
>Pct. adults drinking to excess: 9.2%
>Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 14.9%
>Premature death: 251 deaths before age 75 per 100,000
>Median household income: $60,890

Utah is home to a large Mormon population, a religion that explicitly forbids alcohol consumption. Only 9.2% of adults in the Provo-Orem metro area drink excessively, the smallest such share in the country. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to a number of health complications, and premature death is far less common in Provo-Orem than it is across the country.

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2. St. George, Utah
>Pct. adults drinking to excess: 9.9%
>Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 14.5%
>Premature death: 269 deaths before age 75 per 100,000
>Median household income: $49,981

Unhealthy behaviors are uncommon in St. George. Only 9.9% of adults drink excessively and only 8.4% of the adult population smokes, each the second lowest such rate of any U.S. metro area.

3. Beckley, W.Va.
>Pct. adults drinking to excess: 10.4%
>Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 32.7%
>Premature death: 553 deaths before age 75 per 100,000
>Median household income: $39,498

Despite having the lowest excessive drinking rate in West Virginia and the third lowest such rate in the country, the health of Beckley residents is relatively poor. Due in part to a number of poor health measures, including high smoking and inactivity rates, Beckley has the highest rate of premature death in the country.

4. Logan, Utah-Idaho
>Pct. adults drinking to excess: 11.2%
>Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 16.0%
>Premature death: 226 deaths before age 75 per 100,000
>Median household income: $51,497

Only 11.2% of adults in Logan drink excessively, a smaller share than in all but three other U.S. metro areas. Healthy behaviors often lead to healthy outcomes, and only 226 Logan residents per 100,000 die annually before age 75, one of the lowest premature death rates in the country.

5. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah
>Pct. adults drinking to excess: 11.2%
>Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 18.7%
>Premature death: 290 deaths before age 75 per 100,000
>Median household income: $64,301

In Ogden-Clearfield, only 11.2% of adults drink excessively, one of the smallest shares in the country. As a result, alcohol related roadway fatalities are far less common in Ogden than they are across the country. Only 18.7% of deadly car accidents involve alcohol compared to a 31.0% national rate.

Methodology:

To identify the U.S. cities with the highest and lowest excessive drinking rates, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of adults who report binge or heavy drinking across 381 metro areas. Metro level data were aggregated from county level data provided by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program. All data are as of the most recent available year. Median household income and poverty data came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The number of bars per capita came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health outcomes, including the number of potential lives lost per 100,000 people due to premature death annually and the percentage of adults who report fair or poor health were also aggregated from county-level data obtained from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.

See all of “The Drunkest (and Driest) Cities in America.”