Wisconsin & the Dry Trend: What the Numbers Say About America’s Shifting Relationship with Alcohol

Nate dives deep into the statistics of a new survey about alcohol use by state. He specifically focuses on one state he used to live in and the softening of a hard partying reputation.

Nate’s flying solo this week — and he’s geeking out on stats (no surprise there). A new 2025 study by Trace One looked at alcohol consumption trends across all 50 states, and the results are fascinating — especially for one state near and dear to Nate’s heart.
In this episode, Nate breaks down which states saw the biggest declines in alcohol use from their peak years, including:
•Massachusetts — down 13%+ since 2013
•Arizona — down nearly 13% since 2005
•Maryland — down 11% since 2015
•Wisconsin — down nearly 11% since 2005
•Connecticut — down 10%+ since 2018
Having lived in three of those states, Nate digs into why a place like Wisconsin — famous for its bar culture, German heritage, brandy traditions, and brutal winters — is seeing such a meaningful shift. Is it younger generations opting out? Health awareness? The rising cost of alcohol? Or something else entirely?
This one’s less about preaching and more about pattern recognition. Tune in and see what you think.
📊 Study referenced: Trace One Alcohol Consumption by State

Transcript

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Hey folks. Mate with the dry life and solo this week. Hope all's well with you. Um know me, you'd probably realize that I'm a nerd. I you know, and when you combine stat statistics and geography, I totally geek out. Um good thing. I mean it's it's just kind of who I am, and I really enjoy diving into um stats uh based on new polls and and and that type of thing. Um and we've talked about it on our podcast how uh in recent years it's been found that younger adults are becoming more likely to turn away from alcohol. Um there was one 2025 Gallup poll that suggests um it's because the moderate drinking uh they say moderate drinking is bad for their health, and um there could be also financial and religious reasons for cutting back as well. So uh I was really interested when uh a new study came out by Trace One uh that looked at uh the states in our country and the trends uh that they're seeing with alcohol use. Um here were the states that showed the biggest decline in alcohol use from um the state's peak year. Massachusetts down a little more than 13% points since its peak in 2013, Arizona down nearly 13 points uh from its peak in 20 uh 2005, Maryland down 11 uh from its peak in 2015, Wisconsin down nearly 11 percentage points from its peak in 20 uh 2005, and Connecticut down a little over 10 percent uh from its peak in 2018. Uh I have lived in three of those states, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. Um I'm familiar with you know the cultures, uh the folks that live there, and that kind of thing. Um you know, the the other one of the other notes that the Trace One analysis found was that alcohol is generally more prevalent in uh the northern half of the U.S. than the South. Um so let's uh circle back to one of the states that had the biggest decline percentage-wise in alcohol use. So we live here in Minnesota now, but I spent plenty of time in Wisconsin, including Madison, where I went to college at the University of Wisconsin. You've probably heard about UW Madison being a party school. Uh, it certainly lives up to that image. But even when you get off campus and travel around the state, alcohol use is is high compared to other states. Um Wisconsin, of course, is a northern state where there are stronger cultural traditions of alcohol consumption and higher rates of social drinking. Wisconsin has a high percentage of German ancestry. And what's Wisconsin's favorite liquor? It's brandy. Uh, not sure why. It I guess it feels warm in the winter. Um, so there are a lot of factors that go into a northern state. Uh, drinking more. You know, winters in the northland can truly send a shiver down your spine. Folks hunker down in the colder months, and there are fewer enjoyable, non-lethal outdoor activities. And if you do venture out, you're gonna be assured that there's a tavern within a couple blocks of your home. So, why do I find this so interesting? Well, I think it's fascinating that this state, state of Wisconsin, had saw a nearly 11% drop in alcohol consumption over the past 20 years. The winters are still cold, the days are still short, and by golly, there are still bars on every corner. Now, an 11-point swing may have something to do with the recent trend of younger people uh opting out of alcohol, but that can't be the only reason. So that's kind of what I want to talk about now, is you know, when you look at all those stats, what does it boil down to? Um are folks are folks in Wisconsin um looking at the uh the health implications of drinking? Um perhaps there are younger people that are um you know not using alcohol, maybe using marijuana. Uh but there's gotta be some some folks that are uh older who are for some reason coming back. Um I'm sure you know financial implications can be a part of it. It's it's not cheap. I'd covered that in a f couple podcasts ago on how uh expensive it was for Megan and I to drink every week. Um so maybe, you know, maybe folks are um you know, tightening their belts and and curbing their drinking just because of the uh the expense. And it seems to be going further up, but prices are continuing to climb. Um so I I just I thought it was really interesting. I mean you can you can dive into these numbers, you can throw these stats around, but the bottom line here is you have a state here who that um uh has uh is is one of the um higher consumers in uh uh in the country, seeing a significant uh uh percentage drop in the folks that are uh using alcohol. And it's a percentage. So, you know, um it's it's relative I mean you you can compare it to the other states. It's not just a um a unit drop uh for the state, but it is a a percentage and a and a pretty good size percentage too over the last 20 years. So I don't know, I I just maybe this is uh just more um you know me throwing out this idea um and and just you know getting maybe getting the people to think about how you know what's going around uh uh what's happening around the country as far as uh alcohol consumption goes. Um you know, and in the other states, Massachusetts, Arizona, Maryland, Connecticut, um they saw they saw some uh significant drops too. So what's the story there? Well these are not Connecticut, it's pretty cold. Winters are short, etc. Um Maryland not so much, Massachusetts, sure. I guess that's you know you can consider that a northern state, but northeast, no doubt. Um Arizona, plenty of sun down there. Year round, you can get outside and do stuff. So when you compare that to Wisconsin, there there are there are definitely some some differences between those states, but um you know, overall the trend has been going down for just about every state. These are just the states that that top the list. But pretty much every state is seeing a a drop in alcohol use, and uh I I see it as a good thing. Um, you know, whether people are are are stopping entirely or just you know, dialing it back a little bit. Um I think I think it's great. And and you know, I don't uh you know, Megan and I have not made this podcast to be preachy. It's more sharing excuse me, sharing our experience with um going alcohol free and encouraging people to at least try it. You know? And um and the trends are um I mean it was definitely going down in many states. And so I don't know, here I am gonna be meandering here. I wanted to keep this tight, keep it on point, but uh um yeah, I I just thought, you know, I I I have lived in Wisconsin for many years. I've always known that um alcohol is a big part of people's lives there. Uh definitely uh uh a social component. And um I don't know, it's just encouraging to to see that you know the trend is is going down in that state. Um be interested in to hear your take on this. Um and again, this is this is a study by Trace One. Um you can, you know, you can search online, you can find it there and look. I mean if you're like me, you can dive into those um stats and kind of lose yourself in that. And of course there are there are many other studies too, but um it might be it might be interesting for you to take a look. Uh depending on where you are. And you know, I think it's one thing to to to look at the statistics and maybe hear a summary from somebody that analyzed it, but I think it's kind of fun to to to make um you know make some observations yourself and try to figure out why these trends are happening. But um that's all I got this week. Just thought I you know, I saw this study, I th I thought it was interesting, I thought it was encouraging that um every state is seeing a decrease, and um by golly, Wisconsin was top on the list. So anyway, that's all I got. Thank you very much for listening to our podcast. Please uh um add a nice review, please add some comments. Um we'd love to to hear back from you and and let me know what you think about this whole business about um you know certain states leading the pack and percentage dips in uh alcohol consumption. Alright. You guys have a good week. Thank you, and uh we'll talk to you next week.