Though some generations of Americans are drinking less than those before them, it is still estimated that one in six adults are binge drinkers, per a newly released annual report. In some states and counties, data shows an even larger portion of the population may be prone to excessive drinking.
That’s according to the latest County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The report highlights factors that can impact health outcomes and disparities throughout the country and considers numerous data points, including excessive alcohol consumption.
As they have in the past, researchers relied on self-reported excessive drinking data from 2022, the most recent available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system.
Binge drinking (four or more drinks in one occasion for women, five for men), heavy drinking (eight or more drinks for women in one week, 15 for men), and drinking while pregnant, and underage drinking all qualify as excessive drinking, per the CDC.
After reviewing the data, researchers found a generally positive sign: their own state, Wisconsin, had dropped down the rankings. There, 24% self-reported as excessive drinkers, down from the previous year’s report (though the report notes tabulation methods may have changed). That dropped Wisconsin to the fifth-worst state for excessive drinking.
Montana had the highest rate of self-reported excessive drinking at 26%. Filling in the top five were the District of Columbia, Iowa, and North Dakota, which all tied at 25%.
California climbed from 17% to 20%.
The interactive map below shows the percentage of adults who self-reported excessive drinking in 2022. To view that rate, as well as last year’s data, click or hover on each state.
In addition to Wisconsin, four states saw their excessive drinking rate improve year-over-year. Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, and Rhode Island all had one-point rate drops, the data shows. Eight states recorded no change.
Utah saw an increase in self-reported excessive drinking, which has historically had the lowest such rate in the study. It still does this year at 14%, though that marks a two-point jump over last year.
Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, and West Virginia rounded out the five states with the lowest excessive drinking rates.
The CDC’s dataset also offered county-by-county rates.
Montana’s Missoula County landed at the top of this list with 29% reporting that they drank excessively, up four percent from the previous year. Iowa was the most represented, with six of its counties ranking among the top 10.
Just two Wisconsin counties landed toward the top of the list, an improvement over five in the previous year. Still, all 72 of its counties had more than 21% of adults self-report excessive drinking.
Alternatively, Utah County, Utah, had the lowest excessive drinking rate at 9%, making it the only county with a rate below 10%. Humphreys County, Mississippi, was close behind at 11%. Three additional counties in the state, as well as three in Alabama and one each in Georgia and Maryland, rounded out the bottom of the list.
Below is an interactive map with the county-by-county self-reported excessive drinking data.
Researchers noted some caveats to the data. In states or counties with a smaller population or sample size, the estimates are derived less from the CDC survey responses. The survey data is also collected independently by each state, while the method for calculating excessive drinking has changed.
Still, excessive drinking remains a concern in the U.S. Roughly 20 people die every hour from excessive alcohol use, the CDC reports. That amounts to about 178,000 annually.
The health agency notes excessive drinking can lead to injuries, violence, alcohol poisoning, overdose (if other drugs are being used simultaneously), sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
The popularity of drinking may, however, be waning.
Young adults are drinking less than they were in decades past, according to polling by Gallup, which reported in 2023 that adults under 35 were less likely to say they use alcohol at least occasionally than they were in the early 2000s.
Gallup also saw a decline in the share of young adults who drink regularly or say they sometimes drink “more than they think they should” over the same time period.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
