The States That Drink the Most Alcohol in America [Map] (2024)

America loves to drink. According to a report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Americans’ alcohol consumption reached 7.8 billion gallons in 2018. U.S. residents reportedly drank 6.3 billion gallons of beer, 900 million gallons of wine, and 570 million gallons of spirits. As a country, we drink an average of 2.35 gallons of alcohol per capita per year — which amounts to about 501 standard drinks annually.

As do many cultural habits, alcohol consumption varies by state and region: The West drinks by far the most booze of any region, coming in at 2.5 gallons per capita, while the South drinks the least, consuming a mere 2.23 gallons per person per year. The Northeast and Midwest drink 2.41 and 3.27 gallons per capita, respectively.

THE STATES THAT DRINK THE MOST ALCOHOL PER CAPITA

When it comes to the states that drink the most booze per capita, the tiny state of New Hampshire looms largest. The Northeastern state comes in first for both beer and spirit consumption, likely due to its negligible booze tax. Utah drinks the least booze — an unsurprising fact, as the state has the strictest booze laws in America.

THE STATES THAT DRINK THE MOST ALCOHOL IN ETHANOL

The highly populated states of California, Texas, Florida, and New York led this category. Residents of Wyoming, South Dakota, Vermont, and Alaska, on the other hand, stayed relatively clear of the hard stuff.

RANKING THE STATES

Gallons Per Capita

Rank	State	Gallons of Ethanol Per Capita*
1	New Hampshire	4.67
2	Washington, D.C.	3.77
3	Delaware	3.52
4	Nevada	3.42
5	North Dakota	3.16
6	Montana	3.10
7	Vermont	3.06
8	Idaho	2.94
9	Wisconsin	2.93
10	Colorado	2.88
11	Alaska	2.85
11	Maine	2.85
13	Minnesota	2.79
14	Wyoming	2.78
15	Oregon	2.74
16	Hawaii	2.66
17	Rhode Island	2.63
18	Florida	2.61
19	Massachusetts	2.55
19	Louisiana	2.55
21	Missouri	2.51
22	California	2.49
23	Connecticut	2.40
24	Iowa	2.39
24	Illinois	2.39
26	South Dakota	2.37
27	New Jersey	2.36
27	Michigan	2.36
29	Pennsylvania	2.34
30	New Mexico	2.26
30	Texas	2.26
32	Arizona	2.25
33	Washington	2.22
34	New York	2.21
35	North Carolina	2.17
35	Mississippi	2.17
37	South Carolina	2.16
37	Nebraska	2.16
39	Indiana	2.15
40	Tennessee	2.14
41	Virginia	2.13
42	Maryland	2.08
43	Ohio	2.03
44	Alabama	1.99
45	Kentucky	1.95
46	Kansas	1.92
47	Georgia	1.90
48	Oklahoma	1.85
49	Arkansas	1.78
50	West Virginia	1.74
51	Utah	1.35

Gallons Overall

Rank	State	Gallons Overall*
1	California	81.2M
2	Texas	51.8M
3	Florida	47M
4	New York	36.3M
5	Illinois	25.2M
5	Pennsylvania	25.2M
7	Michigan	19.7M
7	Ohio	19.7M
9	North Carolina	18.7M
10	New Jersey	17.5M
11	Georgia	16.4M
12	Virginia	15.1M
13	Massachusetts	15M
14	Wisconsin	14.2M
15	Washington	13.9M
16	Colorado	13.6M
17	Arizona	13.3M
18	Minnesota	12.8M
19	Missouri	12.7M
20	Tennessee	12M
21	Indiana	11.8M
22	Maryland	10.4M
23	Louisiana	9.7M
24	Oregon	9.6M
25	South Carolina	9.1M
26	Nevada	8.5M
27	Alabama	8M
27	Connecticut	7.3M
29	Kentucky	7.2M
30	Iowa	6.2M
31	Oklahoma	5.9M
32	New Hampshire	5.4M
33	Mississippi	5.3M
34	Kansas	4.5M
35	Arkansas	4.4M
36	Idaho	4.1M
37	New Mexico	3.9M
38	Nebraska	3.4M
39	Maine	3.3M
39	Utah	3.3M
41	Hawaii	3.1M
42	Delaware	2.9M
43	Montana	2.7M
43	West Virginia	2.7M
45	Rhode Island	2.4M
46	Washington, D.C.	2.3M
47	NorthDakota	2M
48	Alaska	1.7M
48	Vermont	1.7M
48	South Dakota	1.7M
51	Wyoming	1.3M

*This data uses an estimate of average ethanol content of sold or shipped spirits into gallons of ethanol (pure alcohol) before calculating per capita consumption estimates. For this data, the alcohol by volume value is 0.129 for wine, 0.045 for beer, and 0.411 for spirits.

Published: July 1, 2020