Drinking Habits Are Affected By Where You Live And How You Love

The trifecta of Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day and Spring Break make March one of the year’s busiest drinking months in America. So naturally, we wanted to learn more about the role alcohol plays in the lives of singles, and how drinking habits are affected by where they live. The PlentyOfFish Research team got to work on a comprehensive research study of 11 million US singles between the ages of 21 to 50 to discover which states and cities have the most heavy drinkers. What did they discover? The Southeastern United States is home to some of the heaviest drinkers in the country, with Jacksonville, North Carolina singles being 64.4% more likely to drink often. Not far behind is New Orleans, with singles from the Big Easy being 50% more likely to drink often.

Drinking Habits And Where You Live

Here are the top 10 cities with the heaviest drinkers from the PlentyOfFish analysis:

1. Jacksonville, North Carolina – 64.4 % more likely to drink often
2. Jackson, Mississippi – 63.9 % more likely to drink often
3. Norfolk, Virginia – 62.4 % more likely to drink often
4. San Bernadino, California – 62.3 % more likely to drink often
5. Killeenn, Texas – 56.5% more likely to drink often
6. Temple, Texas – 56.4% more likely to drink often
7. New Orleans, Louisiana – 55.4% more likely to drink often
8. South Lake Tahoe, California – 46.9% more likely to drink often
9. Portsmouth, Virginia – 46.7% more likely to drink often
10. Tyler, Texas – 46.4% more likely to drink often

Other city-wide findings:

Phoenix singles are 1.6% more likely to drink often
Chicago singles are 15.3% more likely to drink often
LA singles are 4.7%more likely to drink often
San Francisco singles are 10.9% more likely to drink often
Provo, Utah singles are 199.4% more likely not to drink
Gallup, New Mexico singles are 107.6% more likely not to drink

New York City singles:

The Research Team also took a closer look at singles in the Big Apple, and here’s where they found New York’s biggest drinkers:

Bronx singles are 3.3% more likely to drink often
Brooklyn singles are 2.5% more likely to drink often
Manhattan singles are 1.3% more likely to drink often
Queens singles are 24.8% less likely to drink often
Staten Island singles are 31.2% less likely to drink often

Here are the top 10 states with the heaviest drinkers from the PlentyOfFish analysis:

1. Hawaii – 32.7% more likely to drink often
2. Washington DC – 30.8% more likely to drink often
3. Mississippi – 30.0% more likely to drink often
4. Louisiana – 29.3% more likely to drink often
5. Texas – 25.3% more likely to drink often
6. Alaska – 22.9% more likely to drink often
7. Georgia – 16.4% more likely to drink often
8. Alabama -16.3% more likely to drink often
9. South Carolina -11.0% more likely to drink often
10. Virginia – 9.2% more likely to drink often

States with the fewest heavy drinkers:

Minnesota singles are 27.2% less likely to drink often
Wisconsin singles are 26.1% less likely to drink often
Connecticut singles are 20.3% less likely to drink often

Drinking Habits And How You Love

The PlentyOfFish study also uncovered a statistical correlation between longest relationship length and alcohol consumption, as well as the type of relationship singles are looking for. What was discovered? It turns out that the shorter someone’s longest relationship was, the less likely they are to drink often. Less surprisingly, the more casual you are about dating, the more you drink:

Men whose longest relationship lasted less than one year are 45% more likely to not drink
Women whose longest relationship lasted less than a year are 50% more likely to not drink
Women whose longest relationship was either very short (less than one year) or very long (more than 10 years) are most likely to be non-drinkers. Women with a relationships that lasted 2-6 years are more likely to drink
Men who are seeking casual dating or no commitment at all, are 55% more likely to drink often
Men who want to marry are 81.5% more likely to be a non-drinker
Women who are seeking casual dating or no commitment at all, are 79.5% more likely to drink often
Women who want to marry are 73.0% more likely to be a non-drinker

(Research Credit: Morgan Cabot Design Credit: Christina Martin)