Two North Dakota Cities Make The Top 20 Drunkiest Cities

Bottoms Up

No surprise, some of the drunkest cities in America are right here in the upper Midwest. Not that should be anything to be proud of. Alcohol is directly linked to seven different kinds of cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm that the risk increases with the amount consumed, with no safe threshold. So, the old adage that a glass of wine is good for you just isn't true.

(SEE ALSO: The 15 Things North Dakotans Would Like to Outlaw)

Besides the health risks from alcohol, it's estimated that 178,000 people die in the United States from excessive alcohol use. That's a lot of preventable deaths if you think about it.

The Methodology

According to our friends from 24/7 Wall Street, North Dakota has two of the drunkest cities in America. They based their data on adult excessive drinking rates in 381 United States metro areas to identify the 20 drunkest cities. They factored in adults drinking to excess, the percentage of driving deaths involving alcohol, and the number of restaurants and bars.

The 20 Drunkest Cities In America

20. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

19. Ames, IA

18. Fairbanks, AK

17. Lincoln, NE

16. Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

15. Sheboygan, WI

14. Dubuque, IA

13. Iowa City, IA

12. Fond du Lac, WI

11. Mankato-North Mankato, MN

10. La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN

9. Wausau, WI

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8. Grand Forks, ND-MN
> Pct. adults drinking to excess: 24.2%
> Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 34.0%
> Est. number of restaurants and bars: 206 (200.5 per 100,000)

7. Missoula, MT

6. Oshkosh-Neenah, WI

Daniel Barry/Getty Images

5. Fargo, ND-MN
> Pct. adults drinking to excess: 25.2%
> Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 38.0%
> Est. number of restaurants and bars: 433 (181.8 per 100,000)

4. Madison, WI

3. Appleton, WI

2. Eau Claire, WI

1. Green Bay, WI

As you can see from the 20 drunkest cities in America, the state of Wisconsin dominates with the top 4 cities and 10 in the top 20. No doubt, NDSU University and the University of North Dakota are big contributors to both Fargo and Grand Forks making the list. Bismarck by the way, finished at #47.