As alcohol consumption continues to decrease, some states are raising a full and defiant glass in the face of sobriety.
A recent poll from the World Population Review found that two small but mighty states take the lead for alcohol consumption.
New Hampshire, which boasts the banner of “live free or die,” tops the list for going bottoms up with a per capita ethanol consumption rate of 4.67 gallons.
However, Redditors note that the statistics are based on alcohol sales, and New Hampshire famously offers cheaper, tax-free booze, making it a destination for purchase from surrounding states like Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
“We put liquor stores all around the borders of our states, along the highway exits, so you can just pop over the border and stock up. We are big drinkers around here for sure, but not nearly what the sales would indicate,” underscored one commenter.
“People from NY always bootleg from NH; it is literally 30% cheaper. A handle of Crown Royal in NH is 29.99; in NY it’s 47.99. Many smaller bars and restaurants will drive a van up and stop at 2 or 3 border stores and save a few thousand a month on liquor,” added another.
Bootlegging notwithstanding, New Hampshire recently ranked 1st in the country for Public Safety, a metric that evaluates the violent crime and property crime rate in each state, based on data from the FBI, suggesting denizens of the Granite State are celebrating safety and safely.
Number two for booze is Delaware with a consumption rate of 3.52 gallons per capita.
Similar to New Hampshire, Delaware has no state sales tax on goods, including booze, and generally has lower alcohol prices compared to neighboring states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Delaware doubles down on the discounts with a plethora of privately run package stores and warehouse outlets.
Nevada, home to Sin City, took third place with a rate of 3.42 gallons per capita.
The Wild West showed out for bottoms up, with North Dakota and Montana taking fourth and fifth place.
Interestingly, albeit unsurprisingly, Montana ranks as the state with the highest incidents of drunk driving and alcohol related fatalities.
Utah, home to many a Mormon and some of the strictest alcohol regulations in the country, unsurprisingly came in dead last for boozing, with alcohol consumption per capita of 1.34 gallons.
On a global scale, the United States ranks 25th for alcohol consumption, with about 8.7 liters of pure alcohol consumed per person per year, a touch, or pint, above the global average of 8.3 liters.
While New York did not crack the top twenty for most booze guzzled, the state is by no means teetotal, as previous research found that twenty-four percent of the adult population of Saratoga Springs drinks excessively, making it the “drunkest” city in New York state, 7% higher than the NYC average of 17%.
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