Virginians spend $6.7 billion on alcohol last year: report
VENN
(NEXSTAR) - Americans spend an unbelievable amount of money on alcohol over the course of a year. Just last year alone, $228 billion was spent on alcohol across the United States.
While some states spent vastly more than others on adult beverages -- such as California, which spent the most in the country at roughly $29 billion -- the states where the average adult spent the most on alcohol over the last year may surprise you.
SmartAsset analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and discovered how much the average adult over age 21 in each state spent on alcoholic beverages last year.
To find the top answer, you'd have to head to the northernmost part of the country: In Alaska, the average adult spent roughly $1,250 on alcohol. All the while, the state as a whole paid nearly $675 million.
Not far behind was Wyoming at $1,237 per adult, followed by Colorado at $1,202, and Massachusetts at $1,185.
Here are the states where the average adult spent the most on alcohol, according to SmartAsset.
Rank State Alcohol Spending per Adult (21 and older) Total Amount Spent on Alcohol (millions) 1 Alaska $1,249.76 $674.7 2 Wyoming $1,237.84 $543.7 3 Colorado $1,202.45 $5,435.6 4 Massachusetts $1,185.54 $6,470.3 5 Rhode Island $1,155.82 $988.8 6 New Hampshire $1,119.73 $1,236.4 7 Oregon $1,104.87 $3,638.1 8 Hawaii $1,095.34 $1,213.4 9 Washington $1,070.99 $6,455.2 10 Montana $1,051.01 $906.4 11 Vermont $1,039.04 $525.9 12 New Jersey $1,037.31 $7,396.2 13 Virginia $1,019.08 $6,702.9 14 California $1,001.37 $29,466.8 15 New Mexico $994.06 $1,592.3 16 Maine $985.08 $1,092.8 17 Texas $972.04 $21,704.4 18 Florida $959.37 $17,332.2 19 Minnesota $954.14 $4,077.7 20 Nevada $949.91 $2,345.3
As for states that spent the most on alcohol, as mentioned above, California led the way at about $29 billion. Texas wasn't far behind, spending roughly $21 billion on alcoholic beverages, followed by Florida at about $17 billion and New York with $12 billion.
On the other side, North Dakota spent the least amount of money on alcohol as a state at only $478 million, followed by Vermont ($526 million), South Dakota ($540 million) and Wyoming ($543 million).
To see the full study and how much your state spends on alcohol, check out SmartAsset's full study on their website.
