California has been identified as the U.S. state that consumes the most alcohol by volume, followed by New Hampshire, Delaware, Nevada, North Dakota, and Montana. Utah has been named the driest state in the country, followed by West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Georgia.
- North Dakota has the highest percentage of adults who drink excessively and the highest rate of alcohol-related driving deaths.
- Low-income populations are associated with lower excessive drinking rates.
- High
median household income states, such as New Jersey and Massachusetts,
feature among the top wine-consuming states in the U.S.
- Faith and religion play an essential role in a state’s consumption of alcohol.
- Low drinking rates in Utah can be attributed to half the state’s population being Mormon, a faith that prohibits alcohol.
- National Drug Helpline reported that over 85% of people over 18 have reported drinking alcohol at some point.
- Alcohol is responsible for nearly a fifth of emergency room visits in the U.S.
- More
than 140,000 men and women die from alcohol-related causes each year,
making alcohol the fourth-leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
