November 22, 2015
A new study claims to have found the drunkest cities in each state.
While New Jersey's most intoxicated town is no surprise, Pennsylvania's seems a bit out of left field.
Earlier this fall, the Center for Disease Control released a study that said excessive drinking cost the United States $250 billion.
The website 24/7 Wall Street took those findings as a cue to crunch some more numbers and identify which cities report the most overconsumption.
Using data that reports how many men and women binge drink in each metro area across the nation, the study found Atlantic City to be the tipsiest in New Jersey, with 18.1 percent of adults reporting binge or heavy drinking, 2 points higher than the state average.
That came as no surprise to one A.C. bartender, who told the New York Daily News the long hours bars are open and gambling in the struggling shore town cause many to hit the bottle:
"People can party all night," said Jim Cowley, a bartender at Tony's Baltimore Grill, a fixture known for its Italian food and old-school feel. While people might imagine a losing night at the blackjack table contributing to heavy drinking, Cowley sees it another way. "They probably lost because they were drunk," he said. The establishment receives a consistent trickle of customers, from all-night partiers to casino employees looking to unwind after their shifts end, he said.
In Pennsylvania, however, the title doesn't go to one of the of the larger cities like Philly, no matter how hard Eagles fans may have tried.
According to 24/7 Wall Street, the drunkest city in the Keystone State is East Stroudsburg.
A little more than 24 percent of adults were binge or heavy drinkers in the Northeastern Pennsylvania town, about 7 points higher than the state average.
The finding may be linked to East Stroudsburg University students. According to a 2014 report, the school ranked third in the nation in alcohol-related arrests per 1,000 students.
