Methodology

To identify the drunkest city in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of men and women over 18 who reported engaging in binge or heavy drinking in in each state’s metro areas in 2016. Metropolitan area data and state level data were aggregated from county level data assembled in 2019 by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.

Alcohol-related driving fatalities are for the years 2013-2017 and came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). To qualify as a FARS case, the incident had to involve a motor vehicle on a public trafficway and result in a motorist or non-motorist death within 30 days of the incident.

Social and economic factors, including median household income, came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 1-year American Community Survey.