Milwaukee is America's drunkest city

Milwaukee, the former home of Miller Brewing Co. and other brewers has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the drunkest city in America, with more regular and binge drinkers per capita than any other U.S. metros, claims a new study.

The findings are worrisome because high percentage of alcohol consumption and abuse can translate into serious health hazards, including increased public health costs for the city.

"I've been around and seen some things, and as far as the drunkest city goes, it's still Milwaukee," Milwaukee resident Kevin McCarthy said.

Nearly 7 percent Milwaukeeans can be classified as heavy drinkers. Another 21.8 percent were found to be binge drinkers, meaning they consumed five or more drinks in a single sitting.

Milwaukee tops list
The inaugural list of the 40 drunkest cities was complied by 'The Daily Beast,' a news and commentary website after data was gathered for more than 200 metropolitan areas.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the study looked at how often people drink in a month, the number of heavy and binge drinkers and the dire health consequences of over-indulgence in alcohol in the metros.

The website found that Milwaukee tops all for its drinking habits. Statistics reveal that seven percent of the adults drink an average of 12.76 drinks per month.

Nearly 7 percent Milwaukeeans can be classified as heavy drinkers. Another 21.8 percent were found to be binge drinkers, meaning they consumed five or more drinks in a single sitting.

In addition, there were 3.9 alcohol related fatalities per 100,000 residents in the city.

Other findings of the study
Following Milwaukee on the list is Fargo, N.D. The study found that adults here consumed an average of 12 drinks per month.

In addition, 8.1 percent were heavy drinkers and 21.8 percent adults were binge drinkers. Also, 3.5 per 100000 alcohol related casualties occurred in Fargo in a month.

San Francisco bagged the third place. According to the website, the average San Franciscan consumes about 12 drinks a month while about 8 percent of residents are binge drinkers.

Moreover, there are seven alcoholic liver deaths for every 100,000 residents each year.

Rounding out the top ten drunkest cities are Austin, Reno, Burlington, Omaha, Boston, Anchorage and. San Diego.

Curiously, several cities with a reputation for partying and drinking like New Orleans and Las Vegas did not rank very high on the list.