Alcohol is enjoyed responsibly by millions of Americans every day, but many people also report heavy alcohol use. Approximately 19.0% of adults in the U.S. report regularly consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol. In some states, excessive drinking rates are higher.

To identify the states with the lowest and highest adult excessive drinking rates, including binge or heavy drinking, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the adult excessive drinking rate in every state from the 2020 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

Excessive drinking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, includes binge drinking, which is defined as four or more drinks on a single occasion for women and five or more for men, and heavy drinking, which is defined as eight or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more for men.

Florida has the 16th lowest share of adults who report excessive drinking at 17.1% compared to 19.0% nationwide.

The metro area in Florida with the highest share of the adult population reporting drinking excessively is Jacksonville. About 19.8% of adults in the city consume unhealthy amounts of alcohol. Though this is the highest share in the state, it ranks 123 among all 384 metro areas in the U.S.

The drunkest county in Florida is St. Johns. About 22.4% of adults there report excessive drinking, which ranks 170 among all 3,142 counties in the country.

Roadway fatalities involving alcohol are one of the most common causes of preventable death in the United States. Nearly 28% all fatal car accidents in the U.S. involve an alcohol-impaired driver.

Not surprisingly, states with higher excessive drinking rates are more likely to have deadly roadway accidents involving alcohol. In Florida, 23.3% of fatal car accidents involve alcohol. These are America’s 50 worst cities to drive in.

In the short term, excessive drinking can increase the likelihood of violence, risky sexual behavior, alcohol poisoning, and injuries. The potential long-term effects of excessive alcohol consumption include alcohol dependence, heart disease, liver disease, certain types of cancer, and mental health problems, including depression. This is the least healthy county in every state.

 

State	Excessive drinking rate	Alcohol-related driving deaths	Rank	Drunkest city	City excessive drinking rate
Utah	12.2%	22.5%	7th lowest	Salt Lake City	15.6%
West Virginia	12.3%	27.4%	17th lowest	Morgantown	16.5%
Mississippi	13.6%	20.0%	2nd lowest	Hattiesburg	16.3%
Alabama	13.9%	27.6%	19th lowest	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley	18.0%
Oklahoma	14.1%	26.4%	13th lowest	Oklahoma City	15.4%
Tennessee	14.3%	25.1%	9th lowest	Chattanooga	16.9%
Georgia	14.4%	21.5%	4th lowest	Savannah	17.1%
Arkansas	15.8%	26.3%	12th lowest	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers	17.2%
New Mexico	16.2%	30.5%	20th highest	Albuquerque	16.5%
Idaho	16.6%	30.2%	23rd highest	Coeur d’Alene	20.3%
Maryland	16.6%	28.9%	20th lowest	California-Lexington Park	19.0%
Arizona	16.7%	25.4%	10th lowest	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale	18.0%
Delaware	16.8%	30.3%	22nd highest	Dover	16.6%
North Carolina	16.9%	29.5%	23rd lowest	Jacksonville	22.3%
Connecticut	17.1%	32.0%	16th highest	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk	19.4%
Florida	17.1%	23.3%	8th lowest	Jacksonville	19.8%
Kentucky	17.3%	26.1%	11th lowest	Lexington-Fayette	19.8%
South Carolina	17.4%	33.1%	12th highest	Charleston-North Charleston	21.0%
Virginia	17.4%	30.2%	24th highest	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford	19.4%
Washington	17.4%	32.1%	15th highest	Bellingham	22.7%
Indiana	17.6%	19.7%	the lowest	South Bend-Mishawaka	19.8%
New Jersey	18.1%	21.9%	6th lowest	Trenton	19.0%
Oregon	18.6%	30.9%	19th highest	Corvallis	21.3%
Kansas	18.7%	21.9%	5th lowest	Lawrence	24.0%
New York	18.8%	20.9%	3rd lowest	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls	22.2%
South Dakota	19.0%	36.7%	4th highest	Sioux Falls	19.7%
Pennsylvania	19.2%	26.8%	14th lowest	State College	24.0%
California	19.2%	29.6%	24th lowest	Santa Cruz-Watsonville	23.2%
Nevada	19.3%	29.4%	22nd lowest	Reno	24.3%
Vermont	19.5%	34.7%	8th highest	Burlington-South Burlington	21.5%
Texas	19.5%	26.9%	15th lowest	Austin-Round Rock	23.4%
Louisiana	19.6%	33.1%	13th highest	Baton Rouge	21.5%
Michigan	19.6%	29.0%	21st lowest	Grand Rapids-Wyoming	21.8%
Rhode Island	19.6%	36.2%	7th highest	Providence-Warwick	19.9%
Missouri	19.8%	27.4%	18th lowest	Columbia	24.2%
Wyoming	19.8%	34.2%	9th highest	Casper	18.3%
Ohio	20.2%	32.7%	14th highest	Columbus	20.6%
Maine	20.2%	36.7%	5th highest	Portland-South Portland	22.1%
Colorado	20.5%	34.1%	10th highest	Fort Collins	22.0%
New Hampshire	20.7%	30.5%	21st highest	Manchester	20.2%
Montana	20.9%	45.1%	the highest	Missoula	25.3%
Hawaii	21.1%	31.2%	18th highest	Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina	21.1%
Alaska	21.3%	38.1%	3rd highest	Fairbanks	22.8%
Massachusetts	21.3%	30.0%	25th lowest	Boston-Cambridge-Nashua	22.2%
Illinois	21.4%	31.9%	17th highest	Bloomington	21.8%
Minnesota	21.7%	30.0%	25th highest	Mankato-North Mankato	24.4%
Nebraska	21.7%	34.0%	11th highest	Lincoln	25.0%
Iowa	22.1%	26.9%	16th lowest	Dubuque	24.0%
North Dakota	24.1%	43.2%	2nd highest	Fargo	25.1%
Wisconsin	24.2%	36.2%	6th highest	Madison	27.8%

 

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