Ah, Consumer Behavior. Forbes took a look at the CDC’s 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (BRFSS) and ranked 33 cities based on their resident’s answers to three survey questions:
whether they had at least one drink of alcohol within the past 30 days; whether men had more than two drinks per day or women one drink per day; and whether they had five or more drinks on one occasion. In each case, higher-ranking cities reported larger percentages of their population answering in the affirmative.
Of course, as Forbes notes, a better “hard drinkin’” rank doesn’t mean your city is a “den of debauchery,” and “just downing a few cold ones doesn’t make a person irresponsible.” Well, like, duh…
Forbes’ 15 Hardest Drinking Cities
- 1. Austin, TX
- 2. Milwaukee, WI
- 3. San Francisco, CA
- 4. Providence, R.I.
- 5. Chicago, IL
- 8. (tie) Seattle, WA, Cleveland, OH, St. Louis, MO
- 9. Boston, MA
- 10. Cincinnati, OH
- 11. Pittsburgh,PA
- 12. Virginia Beach, VA
- 13. Portland, OR
- 14. Jacksonville, FL
- 15. Detroit, MI
America’s Hard-Drinking Cities [Forbes]
(Photo: Paxton Holley )
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@Uptowngirl: @Alex Chasick: I think they took us off so we wouldn’t throw off the bell curve.
I’m disappointed in you Portland, OR! We can do better next year.
“San Francisco” is spot on.
Beer for breakfast, whiskey for lunch and cocaine for dinner. Antidepressants and Plan-B optional.
It’s a big secret. Don’t tell anyone.
@defeatism: Aha! From the article:
That eliminates us. When asked about Austin’s status as number 1, a bartender there responded: “Sixth Street in Austin is like a tiny version of Bourbon Street.”
@Michael Bauser: Oh come now, our legions of homeless are usually three sheets to the wind. If they can afford it, so can our middle class working men.
Wow, I was sure to see Baton Rouge or AT LEAST New Orleans on there.
Austin is a den of debauchery, though. It’s called the University of Texas main campus!
@Kos: Yeah, but sipping a beer until 4AM isn’t the same as downing Jack Daniels shots every 10 minutes. Why stay open until 4 when everyone’s already passed out by 130??
I really love those old print ads! That’s awesome.
@oneliketadow: Because we were too drunk to take the survey
I don’t know how a Pennsylvania city made it on this list… with the outrageous liquor laws in PA, it’s hard enough getting a drink, let alone drunk.
Stupid PA liquor laws!!!
#3, the home of bars, breweries, and liquor stores! Just last night I bought a bottle of champagne and a handle of rum…the good times. Surprised I’m at work. But that also reminds me that there’s this one bar I haven’t been to in 2 weeks, should go for happy hour today.
Why top 15? If it’s out of 33, if you rank in the mid-teens, aren’t you really just…average?
@battra92: I agree. I’ve lived in Massachusetts my entire life and can honestly say, of the thousands of people I know here, I maybe know three or four people who entirely abstain from alcohol. I don’t think half of my social relationships would exist without booze. I don’t know how you do it.
@allofyourbadinstincts = I agree…and think Boston Should be AHEAD of Providence…Me Thinks the Forbes reviewers got a “happy ending” in Providence.
Dont ask me how I know
@royaumedecoeur: I bet My Boston friends drink more than YOUR Boston friends…
Besides the plethora of alcohol establishments that happily keep serving up those drinks, DWI conviction is also big business here as well. Austin Police Department/Travis County makes a tidy sum off the $1000-plus “surcharge” it receives for 3 years on top of the all the other fines it rakes in for convicted drink drivers. Beware all you beverage consumers who have put our fair city at the top of the list!
@Henrythoreau: a href=”#c7156144″>stre: “To determine the cities with the highest alcohol consumption, we started by making a list of the 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S.–geographic entities defined by the U.S.” that’s why! at 250,000 madison is a tiny city, so per capita we may be have more drunks, but it’s too small to be considered. but isn’t that what makes madison so good?–just big enough to have all the good things a city can give, but drive 10 minutes out and you’re in the country! oh well.
@Uptowngirl:
Amen sister. There is no way New Orleans should be left off that list.
@Snarkysnake: Tried Schlitz recently? They’ve gone back to their 60s recipe since shortly after the beginning of this year, and for a mass-produced American beer, it’s not too bad.
And where is Denver on this list? Sorry, but any list that leaves out the home town of Modern Drunkard Magazine is immediately suspect.
Lived in #5 and #11 and live in #13 now.
I’m not surprised at any of them – Austin especially – they have the highest percentage of people 25-34 of any city in the country, AND one of the largest universities in the country.
Chicago and Pittsburgh are home of corner bars and drinking marathons during the Bears or Steelers games. Portland has more breweries than Milwaukee, Munich, Cologne, or Plzen, and is a hub of microdistilleries (including absinthe) and near wine country in Yamhill County.
Born in #2 and live in #9.
Honestly, I have found Boston to be way uptight with booze in comparison to the MKE.
Never been to Austin. I think I need to go.
@Henrythoreau:
I agree. Nuts.
@royaumedecoeur: I’m not sure. Granted I’m not a hugely social person in general but it’s not like I have any shortage of dates or friends or anything.
But yeah, it seems to be what everyone does in MA. People talk about going to the bar or club or out for happy hour. I actually went for a job interview once and the woman interviewing her said “Oh, we go out for happy hour, are you into that?” which I responded with “I don’t drink.” Strangely I didn’t get the job.
I also remember at work a woman was bragging how she threw a drinking party for her daughter (who was 16 at the time) and she didn’t understand why I was horrified at the idea.
Oh well, such is the world.
Cleveland drinks ..Cleveland drinks
as sung by Ian Hunter..
I’d clap but I have a beer in each hand
We’re number five! We’re number fBLEEAGHGHGGLHGLGHGLHGGHKHGK
…In all seriousness, Chicago’s placing doesn’t surprise me, but there’s actually a lot to do here besides get wasted. If you count Northwest Indiana as part of Chicago, though, I’m surprised we’re not #1, since there really is nothing else to do there.
Wow, current hometown Jax makes the list, but old hometown Columbus with #3 party school OSU doesn’t make the list (neither does Gainesville).
@Ubik2501: My brother lives in NW IN, and I can attest to that fact that there’s not much else to do.
SAN FRANCISCO FUCK YEAH I’M DRUNK RIGHT NOW
@eekfuh: Thanks for the list of the –17– most hardest drinking cities.
17? “Most hardest”? Have we been drinking hard already today?
@thrashanddestroy: the worst part is that you lost to WISCONSIN. Oh, the humanity.
I doubt this will even make the paper in San Francisco. Like, duh, we know.
@EllaMcWho: I could see the travelers playing a factor in Vegas but NYC? Not so much. I lived there for 5 years and recently went home for a visit. I spent everyday I was there for a week drinking for 8-14 hours, this was with LOCALS. I couldn’t even hang with most of my NYC friends, these girls were still drinking wild turkey shots at 7am. Not saying NYC should be #1, I lived in MN which is something like WI, but still NY’ers know how to drink and do it A LOT.
And SF? Really? Never noticed it was a drinking town…guess its time for a visit.
I find it hard to believe Morgantown, WV is not on that list.
I call foul.
Later,
Chrome…
I think every town in wisconsin should be on that list, thats all they do for fun there. drink, fish, and watch football.
I’m doing my part to get Los Angeles on that list.
I just got back from Vegas. Forbes must have skipped it. Didn’t want the obvious answer.
I think we can take this survey with a grain of salt, as always.
Seriously, I can understand New York City not landing in the top 15. But the conspicuous absence of New Orleans? The same city where people parade in the Krewe de Vieux drunk and where ID is never checked (except at touristy places)
@TheRealAbsurdist:
We had a Schlitz-themed party in May, and it was not pretty. We actually got a keg of Old Style to supplement the Schlitz due to the latter’s grossness. I really like their scary cougar mountain man advertisements and really wanted to like the beer, but it tasted like old socks and canned green beans.
Maybe we got the new formula though, rather than the re-introduced old one.
@MrWashy: Bwahaha. You, sir, are my hero.
Grew up in Pittsburgh…currently live in Cleveland. I need to drink a lot more to be able to live here.
@shoelace414: They should have done Brookfield but asked the high schoolers
Aside from Detroit and one or two others, this list would probably mirror “number of colleges per capita.”
@Alex Chasick: Figures. If they’d expanded their criteria I would be shocked if Anchorage wasn’t #1. You can’t turn around here without spotting a Brown Jug. The amount of collective alcohol consumption that must be taking place to keep them all in business is simply staggering.
But when you’re talking about a city mostly surrounded by wilderness, whose 260,000 people are half the entire population of a state that’s two-and-a-half times bigger than Texas, well…there’s not a lot else to do, except go fishing, which obviously coincides with drinking anyway.
I would have to agree with a few of the other posts… Seriously Forbes? Las Vegas the city where every casino offers continuous FREE drinking. Vegas cocktail waitress: “I see you’re playing nickel slots, Thank you and here’s your complementary Long Island Iced Tea, sir!”
I guess when they decided to make the movie “Leaving Las Vegas”, with Nicholas Cage drinking his self to death in Las Vegas, they should have requested the list from Forbes first.
Now now now, I grew up in New Orelands but I now live in Cleveland….and the Indians suck the Browns suck and the Cavs are going to let us down. The home market is steadily on the decline and I cant get out…..CLEVELAND KNOWS HOW TO DRINK!!!! CLEVELAND ROCKS!!