Why Duluth, Minnesota Ranks High For Binge Drinking

Here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, there is no shortage of places to grab a cold one, but one city apparently takes that tradition pretty seriously. A national ranking has named the Minnesota city with the highest reported rate of binge or excessive drinking—and it isn't Rochester or the Twin Cities.

The numbers are in, and when it comes to tipping one (or several) back, one of the Drunkest Cities in America in 2026 can be found right here in Minnesota. That's the word from a recent 'Drunkest Cities in Every State' list by the gang over at VinePair.

Minnesota City Named One of America’s ‘Drunkest’ Cities

They looked at data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a report compiled by the University of Wisconsin Public Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to find the cities in each U.S. state where the percentage of men and women over the age of 18 who reported either heavy or binge drinking.

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First, a little background. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the definition of excessive drinking (also often referred to as binge or heavy drinking) is 'consuming 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women,' the report noted.

And just what is a 'drink,' you might ask? The definition is one you've likely heard before, and according to the World Population Review story, here's how a 'drink' is defined:

Definition of one 'drink':

12 ounces of beer
8 ounces of malt liquor
5 ounces of wine
1.5 ounces of 80-proof (40% alcohol content) distilled spirits or liquor

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Duluth Has Minnesota’s Highest Reported Drinking Rate

So, which Minnesota city is one of the drunkest in the U.S. in 2026? Why, that would be our friends up in Duluth! According to VinePair, 24.2 percent of men and women 18 years and older who live in Duluth report binge drinking or drinking excessively.

Why Is Duluth on the ‘Drunkest Cities’ List?

So just what put Duluth at the top of the list? Is it the long winters with cold temperatures and excessive snow? Or is it merely the fact that the University of Minnesota - Duluth is located there? (And is it a coincidence that Duluth was also named the Best College Town in Minnesota as well?)

How Duluth Compares to Wisconsin and Iowa’s Top Drinking Cities

While Duluth's 24.2 percent is a somewhat large number, it is still well below Wisconsin's entry in the Drunkest City in Each State. The city in America's Dairyland that made the list also happens to be my hometown of Wausau, where 27.2 percent of men and women over age 18 report binge drinking.

But even that number isn't quite as large as the state of Iowa's entry in the 2026 Drunkest City in Each State list. Down in the Hawkeye State, that honor goes to the city of Dubuque, where 27.4 percent of men and women over age 18 report binge drinking!