We Are The Champions: St. Cloud Named ‘Drunkest City In America’

According to a study from scientific journal website 24/7 Tempo, St. Cloud is the 'drunkest city in America,' narrowly edging out Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Missoula, Montana for the 'honor.'

Using factors like the percent of adults who drink excessively, percent of fatal car accidents involving alcohol, median household income and population, the research found that St. Cloud is the single drunkest city in America. The website used 2023 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

According to the study, 26.9% of St. Cloud adult residents drink excessively. The national average is 19.8%.

The percentage of fatal car accidents in the area is 27.4%, which ranked 200 out of 386 cities in the study. The national average is slightly lower at 26.6%.

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I'm not sure what the median household income has to do with this, but it is listed at $65,641, which is slightly below the national average of $69,717 and ranked 145th out of the 386 cities surveyed .

Other Minnesota 'cities' to make the list were Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (they go together now?) at #42, Duluth at #20 and Mankato at #18.

Tempo 24/7:

Binge drinking is most common among higher income, non-Hispanic white adults and those in the Midwest. In fact, seven of the top 10 cities are in the Midwest. Wisconsin has the most cities in the top 50 with 12, followed by Iowa with six.

 

One in six U.S. adults binge drink – defined as 5+ drinks for men or 4+ for women in one occasion, with 25% doing so at least weekly. In the cities on our list, the rate of excessive drinking tops 22%, much higher than the 19.79% U.S. average.

After reading the study, what do you think? Is this reputation deserved, or was the methodology flawed?