How Drunk is DC?
We’re tied with San Francisco, ranked 20th out of 35 cities compared in Forbes’ America’s Drunkest Cities.
20th out of 35? I guess that’s pretty respectable. I put our stats below. You can read the study’s methodology here.
Washington-Baltimore Score
State Laws 4 (score out of 8)
Drinkers 14 (rank out of 35)
Heavy Drinkers 24 (rank out of 35)
Binge Drinkers 25 (rank out of 35)
Alcoholism 16 (rank out of 35)
Our numbers suggest a weird parabola of moderation. Our liquor laws are mildly restrictive. We’re not especially hardcore drinkers, our heavies and bingers are in the back of the pack. But we’re not teetottalers either and our score is buoyed by social drinkers who had at least one drink in the past month but fewer than two per day on average. But those heavies and bingers we do have must be going to AA meetings because we’re ranked 16th in that area.
That last figure is interesting, especially compared to a city like Philly which has absurdly high scores (6th for social drinkers, 4th for heavy drinkers, 5th for bingers) but ranks for 30th for AA attendees as a percentage of its population. Maybe Washingtonians are just more likely to realize they have a problem?
Finally, some will be cheered to hear that DC beat NYC, #32, if this is an important contest to you.
By the way happy hours don’t happen around here *cough* I can believe our 20th ranking. Only suprised its not lower…
We’d beat the pants off of San Francisco-Oakland if all the NIMBYs didn’t want to close all the liquor stores. Sure we can go to bar’s until 3 AM here, but I miss being able to go to the corner store until 2 AM and then again at 6 AM. (Or the bar. Drinking at 6 AM at a dive bar is an experience everyone should have.)
The only reason we’re not higher is that very few people want to go back out once they’ve gotten through their hour commute. And in my current situation, I simply refuse to go to the local watering holes in Woodbridge. *cringe*