Special Report
The Drunkest City in Each State
November 11, 2015 7:04 am
Last Updated: January 13, 2020 5:19 pm
31. New Mexico
> Drunkest city: Las Cruces
> Pct of MSA adults binge or heavy drinking: 16.4%
> Pct. of state adults binge or heavy drinking: 13.7%
> Pct of driving deaths alcohol related: 37.2%
Despite New Mexico having one of the smallest shares of adults who drink excessively compared to other states, the southwestern state has one of the higher rates of alcohol related automobile fatalities in the country. The situation is magnified in Las Cruces, the city reporting the highest level of excessive drinking in New Mexico’s and the state’s second largest city. Some 16.4% of city adults drink excessively and 37.2% of driving deaths are alcohol related, each higher than the respective national figures.
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32. New York
> Drunkest city: Kingston
> Pct of MSA adults binge or heavy drinking: 25.1%
> Pct. of state adults binge or heavy drinking: 17.0%
> Pct of driving deaths alcohol related: 24.7%
More than one in four adults living in the Kingston area report heavy or binge drinking, the highest share compared to the 11 other metro areas in New York, and one of the highest compared to all U.S. metro areas. By contrast, 17% of adults across the state report drinking excessively, slightly higher than the national proportion of 15%. The Kingston metro is located on the western shore of the Hudson River, just under two hours from New York City.
33. North Carolina
> Drunkest city: Jacksonville
> Pct of MSA adults binge or heavy drinking: 17.5%
> Pct. of state adults binge or heavy drinking: 13.2%
> Pct of driving deaths alcohol related: 40.8%
Jacksonville — North Carolina’s drunkest city — has America’s youngest population largely due to the city’s military facilities. Many of the 17.5% of adults who report heavy or binge drinking may therefore be near the city’s median age of 23. The city’s share of residents with heavy or binge drinking habits exceeds the state’s share of 13.2%. However, the city has fairly similar health outcomes to the state’s as a whole. An estimated 7,122 years of potential life are lost per 100,000 people annually due to premature death in Jacksonville, roughly in line with the estimate for the state.
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34. North Dakota
> Drunkest city: Fargo
> Pct of MSA adults binge or heavy drinking: 21.2%
> Pct. of state adults binge or heavy drinking: 21.8%
> Pct of driving deaths alcohol related: 29.7%
While Fargo has the highest rate of excessive drinking among North Dakota’s urban areas, excessive drinking is even more prevalent outside metro areas — the state’s binge drinking rate of 21.8% is higher than that of Fargo. The state’s excessive drinking rate is also the second highest in the nation compared with other states after only Wisconsin. The oil boom that has attracted more men to the area — men are far more likely than women to binge drink — may be another factor.
35. Ohio
> Drunkest city: Toledo
> Pct of MSA adults binge or heavy drinking: 19.6%
> Pct. of state adults binge or heavy drinking: 17.5%
> Pct of driving deaths alcohol related: 33.1%
Nearly one in five Toledo residents has an excessive drinking habit, the highest proportion in all of Ohio’s 11 metro areas. Widespread excessive alcohol consumption poses a risk to the population’s health. Toledo is slightly less healthy than Ohio and the nation. About 17% of Toledo adults report fair or poor health, a higher share than the 16.0% who do nationwide and the 15.3% who do across Ohio.
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