Despite the influx of modern Lent sacrifices, which include reducing energy consumption and abstaining from texting, giving up the traditional vices of candy and alcohol are still en vogue. In fact for the first time this year, the United Methodist Church has urged its nearly 8 million members to eliminate all alcohol during Lent. But certain cities across the country are sure to attack the challenge with relative ease, with residents that drink less on average than their urban counterparts across the country.
Gallery: 30 Soberest Cities
To find the driest towns in America, we considered the average alcohol consumption over a month, the percentage of binge and heavy drinkers, and the portion of the population that suffers the potentially dire health consequences of drinking too much.
The number of average drinks per month was provided by Experian Simmons, which tallied the data for more than 200 metropolitan areas. We used 2009 statistics on the percentage of the adult population for each metro area that are heavy and binge drinkers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Lastly, we calculated the deaths from alcoholic liver disease for each city from the most recent statistics published by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Only cities with a population greater than 100,000 were considered.
Want to know where the more responsible drinkers are? Here’s one hint: Head to Tennessee.
