Dubious Honor: Half Of U.S. 'Drunkest' Cities Are In Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE, WI — Did you know that half of America's "drunkest" cities are located in Wisconsin. That's what 24/7 Wall St. claims.

They reviewed excessive drinking rates in 381 metro areas to identify the drunkest and driest cities in the United States.

They also claim that heavy-drinking cities tend to have better educated, higher earning, and — counterintuitively — healthier populations than cities with the lowest excessive drinking rates.

Do you buy their claims, or are they full of the hops?

After all, alcohol-related crashes killed 190 people in Wisconsin and injured another 2,900 alone in 2015. And there were approximately 24,000 convictions for drunken driving offenses in Wisconsin in 2015. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use cost the U.S. economy $249 billion in 2015 alone.

20. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

• Pct. adults drinking to excess: 22.5%
• Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 36.4%
• Est. number of bars: 494
• Median household income: $56,247

"Of the 20 cities with the largest share of heavily drinking adults, nine are in Wisconsin. Milwaukee, a city famous for its historic breweries, is one of them. There are 3.1 bars in the Milwaukee metro area for every 10,000 residents, well more than double the nationwide concentration of 1.3 bars per 10,000 people."

19. Ames, Iowa

18. Fairbanks, Alaska

17. Lincoln, Nebraska

16. Watertown-Fort Drum, New York

15.Sheboygan

14. Dubuque, Iowa

13. Iowa City, Iowa

12. Fond du Lac

11. Mankato, Minnesota

10. La Crosse

9. Wausau

8. Grand Forks, North Dakota

7. Missoula, Montana

6. Oshkosh

5. Fargo, North Dakota

4. Madison

3. Appleton

2. Eau Claire

1. Green Bay

• Pct. adults drinking to excess: 26.5%
• Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 50.5%
• Est. number of bars: 138
• Median household income: $54,847

"The excessive drinking rate among adults in Green Bay is the highest of any metro area in the country. Nearly 27% of adults report they heavy or binge drinking in the last 30 days, well above the 18% excessive drinking rate nationwide."

"According to the CDC, binge drinkers are 14 times more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than those who do not binge drink. The Green Bay metro area is one of only five nationwide where over half of all deadly car accidents involve alcohol. In comparison, 30% of driving deaths nationwide involve alcohol."

-----

Photo by James Palinsad via Flickr Commons