South Dakota Falls Right in Middle of America’s Drunkest States

When it comes to the places that pound down the most alcohol in the United States, there's good news and bad news for South Dakota.

According to a special report released by 24/7 Wall Street, the Mount Rushmore State is smack dab in the middle of the drunkest states in the U.S. - 25th out of 50.

In other words, it could be better, but it could be worse.

Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the study found that South Dakota's rate of 17.7 percent of adults drinking excessively is just a tick under the national average of 18 percent.

The state also scored well with only 12.8 percent of adults in fair or poor health (5th lowest in the U.S.), but ranked 11th from the top in the state's with the highest percentage of alcohol-related driving deaths (35.2%).

The Midwest as a whole didn't fare well in the study.

North Dakota (1), Wisconsin (2), Minnesota (6), Iowa (7), and Nebraska (9) all land in the top ten with more than 20 percent of adults drinking excessively.

Southern states were at the opposite end of the spectrum. Arkansas (42), Mississippi (46), Alabama (47), and Tennessee (50) all had excessive drinking rates of about 15 percent or less.

According to the CDC, over drinking claims nearly 90,000 thousand American lives each year.

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