Illinois or Wisconsin? One Was Just Called the Drunkest State in America
We already knew Wisconsin had some of the drunkest cities in America.
So it only made sense that the state as a whole would be recognized as the drunkest in America too.
States are ranked on the share of adults who either binge drink or drink heavily. CHR (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps) defines binge drinking as consumption of more than four drinks in a single occasion for women and more than five drinks for men. Heavy drinking is defined as more than one drink a day on average for women and more than two drinks a day for men.
According to their findings, 27% of Wisconsin adults binge drink, tops in America, with nearly 36% of driving deaths involving alcohol are 5th highest in the country.
Helping out the situation a bit is median household income. Wisconsin ranks 21st highest in that area, while adults reporting poor or fair health is 12th lowest.
Both of those statistics must go hand in hand with excessive alcohol abuse, but for Wisconsin, they don't match up.
So the question is, why is there so much heavy drinking in Wisconsin?
That's probably an unanswerable question. Is it lack of things to do, boredom, family lineage, or something entirely different?
Just outside of the top 10 drunkest states in America, Illinois ranked 11th overall, with 21.5% of people reported to binge drink.