Special Report
America's Drunkest States
March 7, 2018 5:23 pm
Last Updated: January 12, 2020 2:40 am
Excessive drinking can lead to a variety of health problems and significantly shorten a person’s life. The habit claims nearly 90,000 lives each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And those who die as the result of alcohol abuse do so 30 years prematurely, on average.
Excessive alcohol consumption, according to the CDC, includes binge drinking and heavy drinking. Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks in a single occasion for women and five or more for men, and heavy drinking is defined as at least eight drinks per week for women and 15 for men.
Nationwide, 18.0% of American adults drink an excessive amount of alcohol. However, the excessive drinking rate ranges considerably across states. In some states, just over 1 in 10 adults drink too much on a regular basis, while in others, the share is closer to 1 in 4.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the CDC to identify the states reporting the highest levels of adults who binge drink or drink heavily.
Click here to see America’s drunkest states.
Click here to read our detailed findings methodology.
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