A new map offers an intriguing glimpse into the beer-loving culture that thrives in throughout America, showcasing a significant variance in consumption from state to state.
From bustling cities to rural heartlands, Americans love to indulge in the amber fluid.
According to market research firm Spherical Insights, the American beer industry was valued at $106.6 billion in 2022, and this figure is expected to grow to $154.7 billion by 2032.
However, its popularity across the country is heavily influenced by religious factors, local traditions and market forces.
Drawing on data from Brewers Almanac, the Agricultural & Food Law Consortium, and several other sources, World Population Review compiled its rankings of states by beer consumption, seen here on a map created by Newsweek.
At 45.8 gallons per capita annually, equal to around 631 cans, North Dakotans drink more beer than any other state in the U.S.
With local brand Fargo as the preferred choice, the Roughrider State drinks twice the amount as the bottom four on the list.
However, while it takes the title of America’s beer capital, the North Dakota’s relationship with alcohol is not without its downsides.
According to the state government, citing the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the Department of Transportation, North Dakota ranks fourth in the nation for binge alcohol use, and 28.7 percent of the state’s road fatalities in 2021 were suspected to involve alcohol.
New Hampshire takes second place with 43.9 gallons per capita.
According to the state’s brewers association, the New Hampshire craft brewing industry alone contributed $456.5 million to the economy in 2021, while providing nearly 4,000 jobs to Granite Staters.
New Hampshire also boasts a relatively low beer tax of $0.30 per gallon, or around three cents per beer.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Wyoming, which ranks 15th, has the lowest beer tax of any state at two cents per gallon, according to the Tax Foundation.
It is followed by Missouri and Wisconsin at six cents, who rank 5th and 18th, respectively.
Tennessee, which sits at 41st place, levies the highest tax on beer at $1.29 per gallon.
At the bottom of the list, and at less than half the volume of their North Dakotan compatriots, Utah citizens drink only 20.2 gallons per capita annually.
The state’s dominant religion—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—prohibits alcohol use of any kind.
According to the Pew Research Center, this results in 55 percent of adults in Utah abstaining from beer altogether, effectively excluding them from the data and positioning the state at the bottom of the rankings, in 50th place.
The state is also one of only eight that ban “happy hour” discounts, according to USA Today, and one of four that close liquor stores on Sundays.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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