How Do Beer Tolerance Levels Vary by State?

Drinking alcohol, if done responsibly, can be a fun and enjoyable thing to do with your friends and family. Beer is a very popular drink of choice for many people on a night out and with hundreds of styles of beer produced worldwide, there are plenty to choose from if you’re going to imbibe. 

If you plan to enjoy a beer (or a few), you should be aware of how it affects you, specifically, so you know where to set a limit. With this in mind, we wanted to learn more about how tolerance levels vary across the nation. Read on for all of our survey findings, which are broken down by U.S. state.

Table of Contents

• How Many Beers Does It Take Americans to Feel Drunk?
• The Percentage of Each State That Feels Drunk After 1 Beer
• Methodology

How Many Beers Does It Take Americans to Feel Drunk?

When we broke out the data into the graphic above, we found some pretty interesting insights about beer tolerance levels in each state. First, we saw the majority of states’ respondents start feeling drunk after being partway into their fourth beer. Arizona and Michigan’s populations, however, reportedly start feeling drunk after 4.04 and 4.02 beers, respectively. These states are followed closely by Maine (3.88), Wisconsin (3.88), and Missouri (3.87).

The states with the lowest averages are Hawaii (2.71), Idaho (2.75), Arkansas (2.90), Montana (2.92), and California (2.96).

The Percentage of Each State That Feels Drunk After 1 Beer

Now, we wanted to see specifically where respondents are most likely to feel drunk after having 1 beer. According to our survey findings, that title goes to Montana, where 38% of their respondents say so. Next on the list are Hawaii and Idaho, each with 32.7%. The states with the lowest percentages, on the other hand, are Maine (11.5%), North Dakota (11.8%), and Wisconsin (11.8%).

Drinking beer is often seen as a harmless, social activity, and in many cases, it is just that. But, it can become a big issue if you start becoming dependent on it. If you or a loved one feel as though they are dependent on beer and other types of alcohol, we’re here to help. Learn more about what the next steps for your life could be by visiting Alcohol.org.

Methodology

We ran a survey of Americans from every state, asking them how many beers in one sitting it typically takes for them to start feeling drunk. We based this question on beer with a 4.5% alcohol by volume. Next, we averaged the count of beers from each respondent by state, in order to arrive at the average number of beers for each state. Our survey includes over 2,580 respondents. 

SOURCE

• Survey

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