Wisconsin is (still) a very drunk state
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Every time there is a study, or survey, released about the “Drunkest (fill in the blank) in America, Wisconsin will rank at, or near, the very top. Drunkest Cities, Drunkest Colleges, Drunkest Festivals, Drunkiest Drunkard that ever did Drunk. Wisconsin is well represented on any, and all, of those lists.
If you live in the great state of Wisconsin, none of that information shocks you. There is a decent chance that you’ve boasted about it, proudly, at some point. Either sarcastically, or with pure conviction, you’ve looked at someone from a lesser state, swelled your chest, and said something along the lines of, “Yeah… well… my state can drink your state under the table.”
Intoxistates.com did a whole bunch of research to find out just what state is, in fact, the drunkest. They generated an interactive map using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) excessive drinking data from county health rankings and roadmaps. The darker red and purple shades represent counties with a higher percentage of excess drinking, which is defined by the CDC as more than eight or 15 drinks per week for women and men respectively.
After compiling this information, shock of all shocks, Wisconsin does NOT have the drunkest county in the country. That honor goes to Gallatin, Montana which sees 26.8% of its residents binge drinking. However, of the top ten most drunk counties in the United States, only 2 are from outside of Wisconsin. The great Dairy State does have the second drunkest county. Outagamie County boasts a 26.8% binge-drinking populace. Those numbers push Wisconsin to, yet again, be the drunkest state in the union. Wisconsin sees 25.29% of its population (or 1.49 million people) regularly binge drinking. The next closest would be Montana with 24.44% (roughly 274,461 people) binge drinking.
Back in Wisconsin, Eau Claire County is 4th on the national list of Most Drunk Counties. That translates to, roughly, 27,649 binge drinkers. Coming in 15th nationally (11th in Wisconsin) is La Crosse County. The West Coast of Wisconsin has a binge drinking rate of 24.86% which translates to 29,905 individual excessive drinkers.
I have to be honest; this is one of the more alarming Infographics I’ve seen on the topic of drinking. If the country were a pizza, the green peppers would be clumped together in the “Bible Belt”, the pepperoni would be splattered along the northern border, cheese would be seen from sea to shining sea, and Wisconsin is where all the sauce is located. Pun intended.
Don’t get me wrong, my alarm isn’t centered solely in Wisconsin. Utah County, Utah, where 9.04% are binge drinkers, boasts the lowest number in the country. However, that is still 63,000 people. (For reference, Lambeau Field holds 81,441 people.) Even in the counties colored “green” on the map translates into an alarming amount of people. States that house “dry” counties, still see a lot of people binge drinking in their populace.
Numbers can be strange and anyone who has taken a statistics class knows that percentages can tell any story you want. However, it seems that binge drinking is a problem in our great state and the country as a whole. For example, Mississippi boasts the lowest percentage of binge drinkers with a mark of 15.67%. However, its population is 2.94 million. That results in 460,698 citizens, almost 190,000 more people than Montana, the state with the second-highest percentage of binge drinkers.
If you or someone you know needs help with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) That is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. The service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups and community-based organizations.
You can also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message to: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you.
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