Data / Rankings / Binge drinking in adults / US states

US states by binge drinking in adults

District of Columbia had the highest binge drinking in adults of 50 states in 2021, at 22.5%. West Virginia had the lowest, at 11.6%. The median was 15.4%. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Highest22.5District of Columbia
Lowest11.6West Virginia
Median15.450 states

Map of states, 2021

Alabama: 12.5 %Alaska: 17.5 %Arizona: 15.9 %Arkansas: 12.7 %California: 15 %Colorado: 18.7 %Connecticut: 13.6 %Delaware: 12.9 %District of Columbia: 22.5 %Georgia: 14.5 %Hawaii: 16.6 %Idaho: 14 %Illinois: 14.8 %Indiana: 15.4 %Iowa: 20.1 %Kansas: 17.7 %Kentucky: 12.6 %Louisiana: 17.2 %Maine: 15.2 %Maryland: 13 %Massachusetts: 16.2 %Michigan: 16.1 %Minnesota: 17.9 %Mississippi: 12.5 %Missouri: 16.6 %Montana: 20.5 %Nebraska: 19.5 %Nevada: 12.7 %New Hampshire: 14.6 %New Jersey: 14.6 %New Mexico: 13.2 %New York: 14.9 %North Carolina: 15.3 %North Dakota: 20.8 %Ohio: 16.8 %Oklahoma: 11.9 %Oregon: 15.8 %Pennsylvania: 15.3 %Rhode Island: 17.3 %South Carolina: 15 %South Dakota: 19.6 %Tennessee: 14.2 %Texas: 16.4 %Utah: 11.8 %Vermont: 17 %Virginia: 15.4 %Washington: 15.2 %West Virginia: 11.6 %Wisconsin: 21.9 %Wyoming: 15.9 %
  • Under 13
  • 13 to 15
  • 15 to 17
  • 17 to 18
  • 18 and over
  • No data
%, 2021. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2021

District of Columbia: 22.5 %District of Columbia22.5Wisconsin: 21.9 %Wisconsin21.9North Dakota: 20.8 %North Dakota20.8Montana: 20.5 %Montana20.5Iowa: 20.1 %Iowa20.1South Dakota: 19.6 %South Dakota19.6Nebraska: 19.5 %Nebraska19.5Colorado: 18.7 %Colorado18.7Minnesota: 17.9 %Minnesota17.9Kansas: 17.7 %Kansas17.7Alaska: 17.5 %Alaska17.5Rhode Island: 17.3 %Rhode Island17.3Louisiana: 17.2 %Louisiana17.2Vermont: 17 %Vermont17Ohio: 16.8 %Ohio16.8Hawaii: 16.6 %Hawaii16.6Missouri: 16.6 %Missouri16.6Texas: 16.4 %Texas16.4Massachusetts: 16.2 %Massachusetts16.2Michigan: 16.1 %Michigan16.1Arizona: 15.9 %Arizona15.9Wyoming: 15.9 %Wyoming15.9Oregon: 15.8 %Oregon15.8Indiana: 15.4 %Indiana15.4Virginia: 15.4 %Virginia15.4North Carolina: 15.3 %North Carolina15.3Pennsylvania: 15.3 %Pennsylvania15.3Maine: 15.2 %Maine15.2Washington: 15.2 %Washington15.2California: 15 %California15South Carolina: 15 %South Carolina15New York: 14.9 %New York14.9Illinois: 14.8 %Illinois14.8New Hampshire: 14.6 %New Hampshire14.6New Jersey: 14.6 %New Jersey14.6Georgia: 14.5 %Georgia14.5Tennessee: 14.2 %Tennessee14.2Idaho: 14 %Idaho14Connecticut: 13.6 %Connecticut13.6New Mexico: 13.2 %New Mexico13.2Maryland: 13 %Maryland13Delaware: 12.9 %Delaware12.9Arkansas: 12.7 %Arkansas12.7Nevada: 12.7 %Nevada12.7Kentucky: 12.6 %Kentucky12.6Alabama: 12.5 %Alabama12.5Mississippi: 12.5 %Mississippi12.5Oklahoma: 11.9 %Oklahoma11.9Utah: 11.8 %Utah11.8West Virginia: 11.6 %West Virginia11.6District of Columbia: 22.5 %District of Columbia22.5Wisconsin: 21.9 %Wisconsin21.9North Dakota: 20.8 %North Dakota20.8Montana: 20.5 %Montana20.5Iowa: 20.1 %Iowa20.1South Dakota: 19.6 %South Dakota19.6Nebraska: 19.5 %Nebraska19.5Colorado: 18.7 %Colorado18.7Minnesota: 17.9 %Minnesota17.9Kansas: 17.7 %Kansas17.7Alaska: 17.5 %Alaska17.5Rhode Island: 17.3 %Rhode Island17.3Louisiana: 17.2 %Louisiana17.2Vermont: 17 %Vermont17Ohio: 16.8 %Ohio16.8Hawaii: 16.6 %Hawaii16.6Missouri: 16.6 %Missouri16.6Texas: 16.4 %Texas16.4Massachusetts: 16.2 %Massachusetts16.2Michigan: 16.1 %Michigan16.1Arizona: 15.9 %Arizona15.9Wyoming: 15.9 %Wyoming15.9Oregon: 15.8 %Oregon15.8Indiana: 15.4 %Indiana15.4Virginia: 15.4 %Virginia15.4North Carolina: 15.3 %North Carolina15.3Pennsylvania: 15.3 %Pennsylvania15.3Maine: 15.2 %Maine15.2Washington: 15.2 %Washington15.2California: 15 %California15South Carolina: 15 %South Carolina15New York: 14.9 %New York14.9Illinois: 14.8 %Illinois14.8New Hampshire: 14.6 %New Hampshire14.6New Jersey: 14.6 %New Jersey14.6Georgia: 14.5 %Georgia14.5Tennessee: 14.2 %Tennessee14.2Idaho: 14 %Idaho14Connecticut: 13.6 %Connecticut13.6New Mexico: 13.2 %New Mexico13.2Maryland: 13 %Maryland13Delaware: 12.9 %Delaware12.9Arkansas: 12.7 %Arkansas12.7Nevada: 12.7 %Nevada12.7Kentucky: 12.6 %Kentucky12.6Alabama: 12.5 %Alabama12.5Mississippi: 12.5 %Mississippi12.5Oklahoma: 11.9 %Oklahoma11.9Utah: 11.8 %Utah11.8West Virginia: 11.6 %West Virginia11.6
%. Source: CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2021 (%)Change on 2020
1District of Columbia22.5-0.2 pts
2Wisconsin21.9-0.9 pts
3North Dakota20.80 pts
4Montana20.5+0.8 pts
5Iowa20.1-1.4 pts
6South Dakota19.6+1.7 pts
7Nebraska19.5-0.9 pts
8Colorado18.7+0.8 pts
9Minnesota17.9-0.5 pts
10Kansas17.7+0.7 pts
11Alaska17.5-0.3 pts
12Rhode Island17.3+2.2 pts
13Louisiana17.2-1.4 pts
14Vermont17-0.6 pts
15Ohio16.8+0.5 pts
16Hawaii16.6+0.9 pts
16Missouri16.6-0.2 pts
18Texas16.40 pts
19Massachusetts16.2+0.4 pts
20Michigan16.1-1.3 pts
21Arizona15.9+1.6 pts
21Wyoming15.9-0.5 pts
23Oregon15.8-0.4 pts
24Indiana15.4-0.3 pts
24Virginia15.4+0.6 pts
26North Carolina15.3+1.2 pts
26Pennsylvania15.3-1.5 pts
28Maine15.2+0.8 pts
28Washington15.2-0.2 pts
30California15-1 pts
30South Carolina15-0.7 pts
32New York14.9+0.2 pts
33Illinois14.8+1.8 pts
34New Hampshire14.6-1.4 pts
34New Jersey14.6-0.6 pts
36Georgia14.5+0.6 pts
37Tennessee14.2+0.1 pts
38Idaho14-0.4 pts
39Connecticut13.6-0.7 pts
40New Mexico13.2-1 pts
41Maryland13+0.7 pts
42Delaware12.9-1.4 pts
43Arkansas12.7-1.7 pts
43Nevada12.7-4.5 pts
45Kentucky12.6-1.8 pts
46Alabama12.5-0.7 pts
46Mississippi12.5-0.9 pts
48Oklahoma11.9+0.3 pts
49Utah11.8+0.5 pts
50West Virginia11.6+0.4 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Percentage of adults aged 18 and over who had 5 or more drinks (men) or 4 or more drinks (women) on at least one occasion in the past 30 days. Crude prevalence, not age-adjusted.

CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a telephone survey of adults, crude prevalence. States and DC only: BRFSS publishes the median of the states rather than a national prevalence, so no national value is served. A state that did not meet BRFSS data standards in a year has no value, and CDC withholds estimates from fewer than 50 respondents or with a relative standard error above 0.3. The dataset also publishes 95% confidence intervals. The series starts in 2011, when BRFSS changed its weighting and added cell phones. BRFSS variable _RFBING5 to 2021 and _RFBING6 from 2022.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. 1 states with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall (US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27

MLA 9

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall, US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2026, https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2026. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021.

Harvard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2026) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall, US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_us_states_by_binge_2021,
  author = {{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}},
  title = {{Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall: US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?\%24order=\%3Aid\&\%24limit=50000\&\%24where=questionid+in+\%28\%27\_RFBING5\%27\%2C\%27\_RFBING6\%27\%29+AND+responseid+in+\%28\%27RESP046\%27\%29+AND+breakoutid\%3D\%27BO1\%27+AND+data\_value\_type\%3D\%27Crude+Prevalence\%27. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
TI  - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall: US states by binge drinking in adults, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
PB  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-binge-drinking-rate/us-states?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. https://data.cdc.gov/resource/dttw-5yxu.json?%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=50000&%24where=questionid+in+%28%27_RFBING5%27%2C%27_RFBING6%27%29+AND+responseid+in+%28%27RESP046%27%29+AND+breakoutid%3D%27BO1%27+AND+data_value_type%3D%27Crude+Prevalence%27. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest binge drinking in adults?

District of Columbia, with 22.5% in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest binge drinking in adults?

West Virginia, with 11.6% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (dttw-5yxu), binge drinking in adults, crude prevalence, overall. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 states have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

US states: more rankings