The map above shows the United States divided by each county, where each county depicts if they are legally allowed to sell alcoholic drinks or not.
An overwhelming majority of U.S. counties are “wet counties” marked blue in the map; these are legally allowed to sell alcoholic beverages, but following the legal age for drinking.
The counties marked yellow on the map, meanwhile, are counties that are “moist” or “semi-dry”, which means there are some restrictions when it comes to purchasing certain types of alcoholic drinks depending on the county.
Counties that completely prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, or “dry counties”, are marked red in the map.
The counties with restrictions in alcoholic beverage sales are mostly located in the southern and eastern parts of the nation.
The state of Arkansas has the most “dry counties”, with around 30 of them banning the sale of alcoholic drinks completely. In the same state, more than two dozen counties have restrictions in selling alcoholic beverages, while only 15 are “wet counties”.
How Did Dry Counties Come About?
The restrictions for alcohol sale in the United States dates back to the 19th century, as the consumption of alcohol was connected to poverty and crime. This led to the rise of the Temperance Movement that championed abstaining from alcohol, led by moral and religious groups.
Alcoholic drinks were completely forbidden in the U.S. by virtue of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Volstead Act, both of which were enacted in 1920. That means alcoholic beverages cannot be produced, sold, and distributed at the time.
This time of prohibition lasted for 13 years until 1933 when the 21st Amendment was ratified, removing the total prohibition and allowing each state to determine how alcoholic beverages can be sold in each county or town.
Nevertheless, some counties still ban the sale of alcoholic drinks, making them “dry counties”.
There are a few reasons why counties remain elusive when it comes to selling alcohol drinks, including religious, cultural, and societal concerns.
Meanwhile, “moist counties” set additional restrictions in selling alcoholic beverages, and are only sold in certain parts of the county, as well as businesses like bars, clubs, and restaurants.
Such counties benefit from sales of these beverages but do not undermine local norms, as well as being the middle ground between those who agree and disagree on the availability of alcoholic beverages in their area.
Which U.S. States & Counties Drink The Most?
The website Intoxistates presented an interactive map of each U.S. county, and how much of each county’s population are excessive alcohol drinkers. Counties colored in green have less excessive drinkers, while those colored in red and violet have a population that just drinks too much booze.
Gallatin county in Montana has the most excessive drinkers in the U.S., with almost 27% of its people having a few too many alcoholic drinks. Conversely, the state of Utah’s namesake county is the driest in terms of drinkers, with only 9% of its people drinking excessively.
Unsurprisingly, Utah is the state that has the lowest average drinking population, at just 12.41%. On the other hand, the state of Wisconsin has the highest average drinking population with 25.29%.
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