The State That Drinks The Most Beer Isn't California Or Texas

Americans are divided in many ways, but one thing we can almost universally agree on? Our love for a cold one. If there was a national drink, beer would be a strong contender for the top spot. The country's passion for pints runs deep, back to its earliest founding days when colonial and early Americans' consumption of alcohol was triple that of the contemporary national average.

Today, our collective thirst for brewskies remains unquenched, but perhaps no state loves it more than North Dakota, which took the spot of the heaviest beer-drinking state in the nation, according to a national survey conducted in 2021 by the Brewers Almanac from the Beer Institute. Just how much are citizens of the Peace Garden state sipping?  According to the data, North Dakota drank 37.5 gallons per capita in 2021, or put another way, equal to around 400 12-ounce cans.

Put into a larger context, this is well above the 2021 national average of 23.5 gallons. Unfortunately, the trend doesn't come without its downsides – the state disproportionately suffers from high rates of alcoholism and binge drinking according to Drug Helpline (perhaps unsurprisingly, given these high drinking numbers).

Unlike places known for their robust brewery culture or love of craft beer, North Dakota isn't the home of major, nationally-known breweries, nor does it show up on many lists of cities in the U.S. beer drinkers should visit. It's also a sparsely populated state — only Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska have fewer residents. But what it lacks in these categories, North Dakota makes up for in drinking volume, with that higher-than-average per capita consumption. 

Just why North Dakota outranks all other states is not entirely clear, but is likely due to a combination of possible factors. One contributor might simply be long-held cultural norms in the state around alcohol consumption. Another potential reason is the high number of oil workers coming into the state, or so speculated Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, to The Dickinson Press. Anecdotal speculation further hypothesizes that a lack of other recreational activities or, simply put, any other ways to pass the time, is the culprit.

Whatever the reason, while North Dakota took the prize in 2021, this national title will no doubt shift in coming years as demographics and trends ebb and flow. And while North Dakota is the state that drinks the most, this doesn't mean they're the top producer of beer, nor do they have the most craft breweries per capita, or the most breweries overall. These unique accolades belong to other states: Ohio  Vermont, and California, respectively. Meaning, whether you love dark or light beers or what corner of the country you find yourself in, from sea to shining sea, you're never far from an exceptional pour.