Misc

The United States of Beer

Published

5 years ago

May 12, 2018

Nick Routley

Across the board, beer consumption in the United States has been slowly and steadily dropping since the early ’80s.

However, that fact doesn’t tell the whole story. Trends around beer consumption are anything but uniform, and the industry is evolving rapidly thanks to the craft beer boom in cities throughout the country.

Beer Consumption by State

Today’s infographic looks at regional beer consumption, as well as trends over the past half-decade.

United States of Beer

Pints of Interest

Beer is still the most popular alcoholic beverage in America, though that demand is not spread equally. Here are states and regions that stand out:

Utah
The Beehive State has unusually low levels of beer consumption for a couple of reasons. First, the state has a high population of Mormons (~60%), who mostly abstain from drinking alcohol. Secondly, Salt Lake City has unusual liquor laws that restrict the percentage of alcohol in beer to 4.0% ABV.

Despite these barriers, Utah’s beer consumption grew by 2.8% between 2012 and 2017 – the sixth highest growth rate in the country.

New Hampshire
Another outlier, though in the opposite direction, is New Hampshire. The state has no sales tax, a fact that beer drinkers in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine are well aware of. It’s estimated that over 50% of the states alcohol sales are to out-of-state visitors. NH’s tax-free booze is such a big draw, that bootlegging has become a problem for states like New York.

Pacific Northwest
America’s West Coast – Oregon in particular – has been at the forefront of the craft beer revolution sweeping the country. Portland alone has over 100 craft brewers, and nearly double-digit growth in the past five years. In states like Oregon and Washington, demand shows no sign of slowing down.

The Full List

Here’s a complete table, that sums up beer consumption across the country, as per data from Wall St 24/7.

(Note: It’s currently sorted by % change over the last half-decade)

State	Per Capita Consumption (Gallons)	Total Consumption (Millions of Gallons)	Change ('12–'17)
Washington	24.7	135.6	9.1%
Oregon	30.0	95.4	9.0%
Colorado	28.3	117.6	4.5%
Florida	26.3	423.1	4.5%
California	25.1	724.9	3.4%
Idaho	25.9	31.5	2.8%
South Dakota	38.2	23.7	2.8%
Utah	18.7	38.1	2.8%
Nevada	32.9	72.9	2.2%
South Carolina	30.9	115.0	2.2%
Montana	39.4	30.8	1.4%
Texas	31.8	626.3	1.3%
Maine	33.8	34.9	0.2%
Georgia	24.0	179.6	0.1%
Minnesota	28.4	115.4	0.1%
Kentucky	23.6	77.1	-0.8%
North Carolina	25.0	188.0	-1.1%
Arizona	26.6	135.6	-1.4%
Tennessee	24.4	120.8	-1.6%
Nebraska	33.3	45.3	-1.7%
Alabama	28.9	103.7	-2.3%
Wisconsin	34.3	147.1	-2.4%
Hawaii	28.5	30.6	-2.9%
New York	21.9	327.5	-2.9%
New Hampshire	40.6	41.8	-3.5%
New Jersey	20.6	138.0	-3.5%
Virginia	24.4	152.7	-3.6%
Michigan	25.3	186.7	-3.8%
Illinois	27.4	259.4	-3.9%
Iowa	31.7	72.0	-4.0%
Alaska	26.0	14.0	-5.1%
Massachusetts	23.6	121.9	-5.7%
Vermont	32.8	15.6	-5.8%
Indiana	23.4	112.7	-6.0%
Pennsylvania	26.4	254.1	-6.5%
Mississippi	30.9	66.6	-6.7%
Arkansas	23.7	52.0	-6.8%
Ohio	27.3	234.7	-6.9%
Missouri	27.7	125.6	-7.2%
Kansas	25.7	53.2	-7.9%
Connecticut	20.2	54.2	-8.1%
Oklahoma	25.1	70.7	-8.1%
Delaware	28.7	20.7	-8.4%
New Mexico	28.8	43.8	-9.1%
Maryland	20.2	90.1	-9.6%
Rhode Island	23.0	18.4	-10.0%
North Dakota	38.3	20.9	-10.3%
Wyoming	29.5	12.3	-10.4%
Louisiana	29.6	99.4	-10.9%
West Virginia	27.4	37.8	-10.9%

Related Topics:America consumption states beer craft beer alcohol

Up Next

Mapped: The Countries With the Most Foreign Currency Reserves

Don't Miss

Interactive: Comparing Asian Powers to the U.S.

Click for Comments

Automotive

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars From 1975 to Today

This infographic lists the most fuel efficient cars over the past 46 years, including the current leader for 2023.

Published

17 hours ago

January 26, 2023

Marcus Lu

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars From 1975 to Today

When shopping for a new car, what is the most important factor you look for? According to Statista, it’s not design, quality, or even safety—it’s fuel efficiency.

Because of this, automakers are always looking for clever ways to improve gas mileage in their cars. Beating the competition by even the slimmest of margins can give valuable bragging rights within a segment.

In this infographic, we’ve used data from the EPA’s 2022 Automotive Trends Report to list off the most fuel efficient cars from 1975 to today.

Editor’s note: This is from a U.S. government agency, so the data shown skews towards cars sold in North America.

Data Overview

All of the information in the above infographic is listed in the table below. Data was only available in 5-year increments up until 2005, after which it switches to annual.

Model Year	Make	Model	Real World Fuel Economy (mpg)	Engine Type
1975	Honda	Civic	28.3	Gas
1980	VW	Rabbit	40.3	Diesel
1985	Chevrolet	Sprint	49.6	Gas
1990	Geo	Metro	53.4	Gas
1995	Honda	Civic	47.3	Gas
2000	Honda	Insight	57.4	Hybrid
2005	Honda	Insight	53.3	Hybrid
2006	Honda	Insight	53	Hybrid
2007	Toyota	Prius	46.2	Hybrid
2008	Toyota	Prius	46.2	Hybrid
2009	Toyota	Prius	46.2	Hybrid
2010	Honda	FCX	60.2	FCEV
2011	BMW	Active E	100.6	EV
2012	Mitsubishi	i-MiEV	109	EV
2013	Toyota	iQ EV	117	EV
2014	BMW	i3	121.3	EV
2015	BMW	i3	121.3	EV
2016	BMW	i3	121.3	EV
2017	Hyundai	Ioniq Electric	132.6	EV
2018	Hyundai	Ioniq Electric	132.6	EV
2019	Hyundai	Ioniq Electric	132.6	EV
2020	Tesla	3	138.6	EV
2021	Tesla	3	139.1	EV

From this dataset, we can identify three distinct approaches to maximizing fuel efficiency.

Downsizing

Prior to 2000, the best way for automakers to achieve good fuel efficiency was by downsizing. Making cars smaller (lighter) meant they could also be fitted with very small engines.

For example, the 1985 Chevrolet Sprint was rated at 49.6 MPG, but had a sluggish 0-60 time of 15 seconds.

Hybrids

The 2000s saw the introduction of mass-market hybrid vehicles like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. By including a small battery to support the combustion engine, automakers could achieve good MPGs without sacrificing so heavily on size.

While the Insight achieved better fuel economy than the Prius, it was the latter that became synonymous with the term “hybrid”. This was largely due to the Prius’ more practical 4-door design.

The following table compares annual U.S. sales figures for both models. Insight sales have fluctuated drastically because Honda has produced the model in several short spans (1999-2006, 2009-2014, 2018-2022).

Year	Insight Sales	Prius Sales
2005	666	107,155
2006	722	106,971
2007	3	181,221
2008	-	158,884
2009	20,572	150,831
2010	20,962	140,928
2011	15,549	136,464
2012	6,619	236,655
2013	4,802	234,228
2014	3,965	207,372
2015	1,458	184,794
2016	67	136,629
2017	3	108,661
2018	12,513	87,590
2019	23,686	69,718
2020	15,932	43,525
2021	18,685	59,010
2022	7,628	33,352

Source: goodcarbadcar.net

The Prius may have dominated the hybrid market for a long time, but it too has run into troubles. Sales have been declining since 2014, even setting historic lows in recent years.

There are several reasons behind this trend, with one being a wider availability of hybrid models from other brands. We also can’t ignore the release of the Tesla Model 3, which began shipping to customers in 2017.

Electric Vehicles

We’re currently in the middle of a historic transition to electric vehicles. However, because EVs do not use fuel, the EPA had to develop a new system called MPGe (miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent).

This new metric gives us the ability to compare the efficiency of EVs with traditional gas-powered cars. An underlying assumption of MPGe is that 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity is comparable to the energy content of a gallon of fuel.

The most fuel efficient car you can buy today is the 2023 Lucid Air, which achieves 140 MPGe. Close behind it is the 2023 Tesla Model 3 RWD, which is rated at 132 MPGe.

Check out this page to see the EPA’s top 10 most efficient vehicles for 2023.