New Hampshire is beer capital of America and Washington DC has biggest number of winos
New Hampshire has been crowned America’s beer capital, while Washington DC is the most wine-consuming country, according to interactive maps.
Official data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimates the amount of booze consumed per capita in each state.
The Northeast, West Coast, and Midwest generally consumed the most alcohol, while rates were lower in the South, which is linked to higher rates of religious beliefs.
American men can safely consume up to two bottles of beer or small glasses of wine a night, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while women can consume no more than one. But a growing proportion of people – driven by Gen Z – are now avoiding alcohol completely.
The interactive maps are based on beer and wine sales in 2020, the last year with data.
For beer, New Hampshire residents consumed about 1.89 liters of pure alcohol in beer each year.
Montana residents put 1.66 liters of ethanol into beer per year, while those in Vermont had 1.63 liters and North Dakota had 1.48 liters.
Rounding out the top five was Maine, where people drank an average of 1.37 liters per year.
In terms of wine consumption, Washington DC – the capital – topped the list with 1.01 gallons per person.
It was followed by New Hampshire (0.84), Delaware (0.77), Vermont (0.76), and California (0.62).
Of the top ten beer-drinking states, four were in the Northeast, three in the West, and three in the Midwest.
Of the top ten wine-drinking states, seven were in the northeast, two in the west, and one—Florida—in the south.
Dr. Nigel Barber, a psychologist trained at the City University of New York (CUNY), told earlier Psychology today: ‘People at the bottom of the income ladder usually divide themselves into two extremes. Either they don’t drink at all, or they drink too much.
“There’s no real mystery why poor people drink too much.
“Heavy drinking is a way of escaping the stress and lack of control they experience in their lives, feelings that are less intense for affluent people who enjoy higher social status, better social support and greater economic freedom.”
The map above shows which states consumed the most and the least amount of wine. Utah placed at the bottom of this category, which was related to Mormons who do not drink alcohol
This chart shows the consumption of beer ethanol by year in each region of the US. It shows that the market is gradually shrinking in all areas
However, this graph shows ethanol from wine consumed by the state. Unlike beer, this is an upward trend
Other patterns in the data included many of the states in the top categories being mostly rural.
A review published in the Lancet in 2021, which looked at 280 studies from 49 countries, found that people in rural areas were more likely to abuse alcohol than their urban neighbours.
They wrote in the conclusion: ‘Internationally, most studies have shown that living in rural areas, compared to living in the city, is associated with a higher risk of hazardous alcohol use and alcohol-related harm.’
On the other hand, wine consumption tended to be higher in states that were more affluent.
Washington DC, which drank the most wine, had the highest annual income of any state at an average of $133,000 per household, according to Data from the 2020 United States Census.
New Jersey, Massachusetts and California were top wine drinkers who also placed in the top ten states with the highest median income in the US with $117,000, $115,000 and $111,000.
The data also showed that only one of the top 10 states for beer and alcohol consumption — Florida — was in the South.
Pollster Gallup said this was because a higher proportion of the population was religious and viewed drinking alcohol as “morally wrong.”
Another outlier was Utah, which was at the bottom of the list of states drinking the most beer and wine.
This was related to the majority of the Mormon community, who believe that people should not drink alcohol of any kind.
Mormons believe that in 1833, God revealed which foods and substances were good and bad for people to consume. The list did not include alcohol, tobacco, tea or coffee, all of which are rejected in the community as a result.
The 2020 data calculated beer and wine consumption per capita based on the population of men and women ages 14 and older in each state.
A glass of wine and a standard pint of beer each contain about 0.6 fluid ounces of ethanol, the alcohol content.
It is known that regular drinking increases the risk of numerous diseases, including heart disease, cancer and dementia.