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.

Wondering how your home state stacks up against its neighbors? Take a look at our color-coded map to see how much alcohol the residents of each U.S. state and Washington, D.C., drink each year.

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 North Dakota 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