New London-Norwich Is CT's Drunkest Metro Area: Report

NEW LONDON, CT — The "drunkest metro area" in Connecticut is Norwich-New London, according to a new report.

Travel and lifestyle site 24/7 Tempo took data from the 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program, to determine the drunkest areas in each state.

The national average for excessive drinking is 19.8 percent. Norwich-New London's rate of adults who drink excessively actually tracks fairly close to that number at 20.8 percent. The rate across Connecticut is 17.4 percent, which is the 17th lowest in the country.

In 2017, a 24/7 Tempo report found that Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk was the heaviest drinking part of Connecticut coming in at 20.6 percent.

Countywide driving deaths involving alcohol came in at 34.1 percent in Norwich-New London. The state as a whole tracks a bit higher compared to the rest of the county at 30.4 percent, or 20th highest.

Wisconsin comes in as the drunkest state in the nation at 26.1 percent. Its heaviest-drinking metro area is Wausau-Weston at 27.2 percent.

The report reviewed the percentage of men and women over 18 who said they drink heavily or binge drink in each state's metropolitan areas. Though there's been progress on curbing binge drinking, one in six American adults still reports indulging in excessive drinking on a single occasion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The federal agency considers binge drinking to be consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion for men and consuming four or more drinks for women.

Excessive drinking accounts for more than 140,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Read the full report on "The Drunkest City in Every State" at 24/7 Tempo.