Is Louisville America’s Drunkest City? A New Study Weighs In

Cheers, Louisville. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Amitnotfound

Based on a new study, Louisville is not the drunkest city in America. But it isn’t the most sober city either.

In the study The Drunkest Cities in America: 2022 Data by Clever, a real estate data company, Kentucky finished even Steven at No. 25 in the Top 50 major U.S. cities. Milwaukee is the booziest city, while the most sober city is Memphis.

Results were based on weighted rankings in categories such as safety, based on factors like binge drinking and driving deaths involving alcohol; number of bars, breweries and wine bars per 100,000 residents; number of bars per 100,000, walkability and Google search trends such as “bars near me” and “hangover cure.” Data came from University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, U.S. Census Bureau, Walk Score, Expatistan.com, Yelp and Google Trends.

Louisville’s scores shaped up like this: 23.4 bars per 100,000 residents; 2.9 breweries per 100,000; 1.3 wine bars per 100,000; 63.7 safety score; 19.70% excessive drinking rate; 24.10% score in alcohol-related driving deaths; $10 average cocktail price, and a “drinking interest score” of 65.

Clever writes, “It’s clear that alcohol is a big part of American culture. In 2020 alone, total alcoholic beverage sales numbers in the U.S. reached over $222 billion.”

While America’s reliance on alcohol has shown signs of decreasing, it is still a large part of our culture and one that comes with serious health risks.

“This led us to investigate which major metros in the U.S. have the biggest drinking cultures. Some cities may see being designated as ‘drunkest’ as a source of pride,” Clever wrote, “but such a designation should come with introspection given alcohol’s dangers. On the other hand, the ‘most sober’ cities may also make for good moving options for folks looking to get away from party cities and excessive drinking.”

Here are the Top 10 Drunkest Cities, per the study:

1. Milwaukee, WI

2. New Orleans, LA

3. Portland, OR

4. Denver, CO

5. Providence, RI

6. Boston, MA

7. Minneapolis, MN

8. Pittsburgh, PA

9. Cleveland, OH

10. Austin, TX

And here are the Top 5 Most Sober Cities:

1. Memphis, TN

2. Birmingham, AL

3. Atlanta, GA

4. Los Angeles, CA

5. Salt Lake City, UT