How America Drinks™

Who Drinks the Most on St. Patrick's Day?

The BACtrack team analyzed around 3,000 anonymous BAC results from 2023 to determine: Which state drinks the most? Does the Irish population size impact drinking levels? Where do the St. Paddy's Day parades fit in?
How American Drinks - St Patricks Day 2023

Top 5 States vs. Bottom 5 States

Below are the states with the highest and lowest alcohol consumption on St. Patrick's Day. The right column indicates the number of people of Irish descent residing within that state (more analysis on that below).

Compare that with the national average for St. Patrick's Day: 0.077%.

What's the Relationship Between Irish Heritage, Parades, and Alcohol Consumption?

We compared around 3,000 anonymized breathalyzer data points from March 17-18, 2023 with typical turnouts for select, major St. Patrick's Day parades (both spectators and participants) across the country, and the number of residents of Irish descent within each state.

On its own, the correlation is weak between Irish population and BAC level on St. Patrick's Day. But Irish population (unsurprisingly) strongly correlates with St. Patrick's Day parade size - and St. Patrick's Day Parade size correlates significantly with holiday BAC levels.

So, does Irish population size affect St. Patrick's Day drinking more than the numbers imply?

(And, side note: If you're attending a parade, take it easy!)

  • St. Patrick's Day BAC levels vs. Irish Populations

    A small positive correlation (0.101) exists between the number of Irish residents in a state and the state's average BAC level on St. Patrick's Day.

    In other words: More Irish = higher average BAC.

  • via GIPHY

  • St. Patrick's Day Parades vs. BAC

    There's a moderate positive correlation (0.608) between a state's BAC on St. Patrick's Day and the turnout to parades within that state.

    In other words: Bigger parade = higher BAC.

  • Irish Populations vs. St. Patrick's Day Parades

    As to be expected, there's a strong correlation (0.885) between the number of Irish residents in a state and parade turnout. No surprises there.

  • via GIPHY

Methodology

  • Data was collected anonymously from users of the BACtrack app, which syncs with smartphone compatible BACtrack breathalyzers. Data used in this report was collected from U.S. users who opted into sharing their data by activating the BACtrack App data storage, having location services turned on, and allowing the BACtrack app to access their smartphone’s Bluetooth. 
  • Around 3,000 unique BAC tests were reviewed for this report. 
  • To identify the number of residents of Irish descent within each state, we utilized US Census Bureau findings from 2022.
  • To analyze parade turnout, we looked at reported estimates of both spectators and participants (combined) for select St. Patrick's Day parades in Nebraska, Georgia, Arkansas, Wisconsin, California, Connecticut, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois. Data was gathered from media sources including The Irish Road Trip's roundup and individual parade websites.
  • Data represents positive BAC readings. Readings were collected anonymously from March 17-18, 2023.
  • This data does not represent data from all users.

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