Half of Americans drink alcohol, and millennials (age 29 to 44), at 55%, are the most likely age group to drink, according to a report from personal finance website ValuePenguin, New York, which is owned by LendingTree.
Meanwhile, Gen Zers (18 to 28), at 41%, are the least likely to drink. In addition almost half, 48%, of people who consume alcohol drink weekly and 18% drink daily.
Alcohol consumption rose 14.2% from 2000 to 2022, the report said. That growth was led by a 65.6% increase in spirit consumption and a 35.5% jump in wine consumption, the report continued. Meanwhile, beer consumption was down 17.1%. Americans spent an average of $637 on alcohol in 2023, up 37.6% from 2014.
Men, 55%, are more likely than women, 45%, to say they drink.
Like all things, the report said, “alcohol has become more pricey lately, so it may make sense that the biggest demographic gap between drinkers and nondrinkers is household income. Six-figure earners are the most likely to say they drink at 60%, while only 38% of Americans earning less than $30,000 do so.”
Reasons for drinking alcohol, according to the report, were:
- To relax: 60%
- Enjoy the taste: 45%
- Socialization: 44%
- Celebrations: 38%
- Stress relief: 38%
- Entertainment: 29%
- To self-medicate: 17%
- To get drunk: 15%
- Peer pressure: 5%
Conversely, reasons for not drinking included:
- Lack of interest: 47%
- Physical health reasons: 32%
- Mental health reasons: 19%
- Religious reasons: 16%
- Family reasons: 15%
- Addiction reasons: 15%
- Financial reasons: 10%
- Legal reasons: 4%
“Most believe their habits are consistent, with 49% of drinkers reporting they haven’t noticed a change in the past year,” the report said. “Meanwhile, 33% drink less and just 19% drink more."
Other highlights from the report:
The majority of drinkers believe their habits haven’t changed, but those who notice a difference are drinking less. Forty-nine percent of drinkers say their habits haven’t changed in the past year, while 33% are drinking less and just 19% are drinking more. “And while 58% think their drinking habits will remain the same next year, a higher percentage plan to drink less (28%) than more (14%),” ValuePenguin said. Despite this, Americans are more likely to believe drinking is becoming more prevalent in society (40%) than less (22%).
New Hampshire residents drink the most alcohol. Residents here consumed the equivalent of 4.5 gallons of alcohol per capita in 2022. Delaware and District of Columbia residents followed at 4.1 gallons each. Conversely, at 1.2 gallons of alcohol per capita, Utah residents consumed the least, with West Virginia, 1.8 gallons, closest.
Delaware has seen the biggest growth in alcohol consumption. Between 2000 and 2022, alcohol consumption jumped 40.6% from 2.9 gallons per capita to 4.1. North Dakota, 37.7%, and Tennessee, 30.3%, saw the next biggest jumps. Meanwhile, eight states saw alcohol consumption fall in this period, led by South Carolina, 12.4%, Georgia, 9.1%, and Idaho, 5.7%.
ValuePenguin commissioned QuestionPro, Austin, Texas, to conduct an online survey of 1,999 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 79 from Feb. 4 to 5, 2025. The survey was administered using a nonprobability-based sample, and quotas were used to ensure the sample base represented the overall population. Researchers reviewed all responses for quality control.
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