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Boston Named One Of The Top 5 Drunkest Cities In America

By Melissa
BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 03: New England Patriots fans cheer after the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII at McGreevy's Bar on February 3, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Congratulations Boston? I use a question mark here because I’m not sure this is something to be super proud of. But needless to say, Boston has just been named one of the top 3 drunkest cities in America. It landed at #3 on the list according to InsiderMonkey.com. Now before we give you the top 13 drunkest cities in America, let’s first look at how these findings were made.

According to Insider Monkey, they compiled their data based on “County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looking for Cities With the Highest Rates of Excessive Drinking.” They kept it to only cities with populations of 200,000 or more and the most binge drinking reported in the past 30 days. They also did studies on which cities drink the most amount of beer specifically but for the purposes of this post, we’re keeping to alcohol in general.

Boston is known for its beer. Boston is also known for its bars. Think about it…one of the most popular bars in television history was stationed here in Boston. Of course we’re talking about Cheers. So the fact that Boston is in the top 5 of this list shouldn’t be a shocker for many. So let’s take a look at the drunkest cities in America. And just an FYI, when two cities had the same excessive drinking rate, we ranked them by the percentage of driving deaths with alcohol involved. That is not a statistic to be proud of but it is definitely a way to measure the drunkest cities. And when you’re done seeing which cities topped the list, let us know if you agree or if you feel there are certain cities missing. The list changes year to year and this is the latest information for the year 2023.

  • #13 Detroit, MI

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 20.7%. Part of the reason for Detroit’s rating is because a law was just passed recently that allows the sale if alcohol in college stadiums and arenas in Michigan. You can imagine how much this would raise the drunken rate.

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  • #12 Jacksonville, FL

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21%.  Jacksonville is known for its nightlife. They have a ton of beach front bars which makes getting drunk in Jacksonville that much easier to take.

  • #11 Tampa, FL

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21.2%.  Okay let’s be honest. The reason Tampa may have jumped up on this list is the success of its football team. Tampa is also considered one of the most expensive cities to drink. It costs an average person in Tampa $82 for a typical night out of drinking.

  • #10 Austin, TX

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21.4%.  Austin is considered the Live Music Capital of the World where there’s always something going on and festivals every weekend. Much of these festivals include alcohol, so this should be no surprise. 

  • #9 Portland, OR

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21.4%.  Put it this way…drinking in Portland was such an issue, that the government launched their “Rethink the Drink” campaign last year trying to get people to rethink their alcohol consumption. 

  • #8 Sacramento, CA

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21.6%.  Talk about a horrible statistic. Alcohol disease killed more Californians than car accidents or breast cancer last year. 

  • #7 New Orleans, LA

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 21.9%. This one shouldn’t surprise anyone. The nightlife, restaurant and bar scene in NO is one of the best in country. Can you say Mardi Gras?

  • #6 Pittsburgh, PA

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 22.5%. Unfortunately  25% driving deaths in the city involve alcohol.  That is proof enough to tell you why they’re in the top 10. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCmyH6DWEU

  • #5 Chicago, IL

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 22.7%.  Drinking got so bad in Chicago that several community groups banned together to form the  ‘I Got This’ program, meant to curb underage drinking. So it’s no surprise Chicago is in the top 5. 

  • #4 Buffalo, NY

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 22.8%.  Buffalo has long been known as a drinking town. They are constantly filled with festivals that revolve around craft beer.

  • #3 BOSTON, MA

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 23.1%. If you live here in Boston you know we are known for our bars and our nightlife…even though the bars close at 1:30am typically. Not to mention our sports teams always give us reasons to drink.

  • #2 Minneapolis, MN

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 23.5%. Here is a statistic that no city should be proud of: 1,100 Minnesotans died in 2021 as a result of binge drinking. And believe it or not, Minneapolis is considered one of drunkest cities in the entire WORLD. 

  • #1 Milwaukee, WI

    Excessive Drinking Rate: 24.6%. Milwaukee is loaded with breweries and beer gardens. It also has one of the lowest alcohol tax rates in the country. This alone contributes to excessive rates of drinking. 

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