American Drinking At a Record Low, What Does That Mean for Wisconsin?
Bars detail changes they're making to accommodate changing consumer tastes, health concerns.
Drinks are poured at Zoxx Social Club on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Janesville, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Fox River House brands itself as “Appleton’s oldest saloon,” but the bar has offered a growing selection of nonalcoholic options in recent years.
Cassidy Evers, one of the bar’s co-owners, said it has an entire shelf in its cooler that is completely alcohol free, from nonalcoholic craft beers to THC drinks. And she said the bartenders are happy to mix a mocktail, as well.
“A lot of people that choose not to drink think they can’t participate in the bar and go to shows and be in that bar environment without drinking,” Evers said. “But there’s actually a huge culture that has pushed towards still going and knowing that they don’t have to (drink), and not feeling the pressure to participate in alcohol.”
And Fox River House isn’t the only place seeing that trend.
A new Gallup poll shows the share of adults in the United States who say they drink alcohol has fallen to its lowest point in the nearly 90 years. In 2025, 54 percent of Americans reported drinking alcohol, down from 58 percent in 2024, 62 percent in 2023 and 67 percent in 2022.
According to Gallup, a majority of Americans, 53 percent, now say moderate alcohol consumption is bad for your health. That’s up from 45 percent in 2024 and 39 percent in 2023.
There are some signs that Wisconsin has experienced a similar trend. Roughly 70 percent of Wisconsinites drank alcohol as of 2005. That was down to 66 percent in 2013 and 61 percent in 2023, according to data from Trace One, a food and beverage software company.
This graphic shows how the share of Americans reporting drinking alcohol has changed over time. Graphic courtesy of Gallup
Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Tavern League of Wisconsin, said bars across the state are adapting with the times. He said establishments are serving more food, offering more nonalcoholic drink options and leaning into opportunities to offer recreational opportunities, like sponsoring leagues for softball, darts or horseshoes.
While bars are expanding their nonalcoholic options, Evers said alcohol sales are still Fox River House’s bread and butter.
“We are still Appleton, Wisconsin,” she joked.
Maureen Busalacchi is director of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She said it’s encouraging that the Gallup poll showed a change in attitudes around drinking.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “I think it’s important that we think about other things to do, rather than just drink alcohol, in terms of being social (and) getting together with folks.”
She said Wisconsin’s drinking culture often normalizes drinking, without enough emphasis on the negative consequences that alcohol consumption can have.
Tina Breimon, Izzy’s Bar bartender and manager, said they’re making liquor orders and cleaning the bar to prepare it for customers. Danielle Kaeding/WPR
Binge drinking in Wisconsin costs almost $4 billion a year in lost productivity, health care, criminal justice and other costs, according to a 2019 report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Busalacchi said daily drinking — even at low levels — can raise the risk of cancer, heart disease and cause damage to the liver.
“Two to three drinks a day is a way of destroying your liver,” Busalacchi said. “It’s a path to doing that, and I don’t think people understand the amount of risk that there is in terms of their health.”
The share of younger adults who reported drinking was down from 59 percent in 2023 to 50 percent in 2025, according to Gallup.
Jenny Damask, assistant director for high-risk drinking prevention at UW-Madison, said a fall 2024 survey of first-time undergraduate students at UW-Madison showed that 61 percent reported they had not used alcohol in the prior two weeks. That’s up from 37 percent who said the same in 2015, she said.
Damask also said UW-Madison is trying to offer “substance-free” events and spaces to help students who do not drink feel a sense of community on campus after surveys showed nondrinkers had “lower levels of belonging.”
“I think sometimes people have this perception that belonging … is tied to high-risk drinking,” she said. “We want to uncouple high-risk drinking and sense of belonging. That’s really important.”
Alcohol use for Americans hit a record low. What does that mean for Wisconsin? was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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““It’s important for our taverns to adapt and continue to be a part of the fabric of the state because they provide a lot of color, a lot of character, and that outlet from the social media and the other things that are going on out there that really have a tendency to divide us,” he said. “This is one of the few things left that really pulls us together.””
As generations evolve to accomodate social media, texting and other digital forms of communication, it’s at the expense of actual face-to-face interpersonal connections, and bars, taverns, saloons helped to accomodate that. Unfortunately, alcohol often helps accomplish the mild loss of inhibition that promote chattiness and desire for social connection, critical to combat social isolation, loneliness and the diminished quality of life that accompanies this, especially as we get older and lose the family connections more common when we’re in the 20s, 30s, and 40s.
It’s great that we’re offering a wider variety of non-alcoholic options, and continue to enhance opportunities for socialization at whatever you wish to call them: bar, pub, tap, club, inn, saloon, tavern. (Ask Google for their distinctions!)
Look, I come from a long line of Wisconsin binge drinking, love a great (or even middling) Manhattan, and enjoy the atmosphere of a bar where I can be as chatty or to myself as I want.
And, I’m glad we are coming around to the degree of harm alcohol can do. Much has been made this year about the decline in drinking among younger generations and, among Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, not so much. The late 70s and early 80s were apparently an all-time high point for consumption among adults…and many of us high schoolers and college students. And then, we grew up with the “scientifically based” understanding that 2-3 drinks a day was okay, even HEALTHY. There was a point in my life when I just assumed adding a couple more drinks per day would still be fine, and that my easy recovery time from MUCH more in my 20s and early 30s was just a sign that “I could handle it.” Now, after all these years, we find that the studies were wrong (rigged) and we need to drink much less. Same as all the studies claiming for decades that eating fat was bad…only to find out it’s actually the sugar.
Great to note how easy it is to persuade us that sometimes is okay—even “scientifically proven.”
Now that I’m older and drink significantly less, I can still appreciate a good cocktail and a night out that might include two drinks. I totally get the social/psychological benefits of “taking the edge off,” but just maybe, if I need to drink to feel okay about myself, about joining the crowd, or to sense the warmth and conviviality of a bar, that I might be wrong.
Two things I wish:
That mocktails didn’t basically cost as much as a well cocktail—sometimes more. I mean, seriously? (Also, can we figure out recipes that don’t rely so much on orange or pineapple juice?)
That there were actual coffee and tea bars just like taverns where you could belly up and meet others without liquor being sold. (People usually go to coffee shops for the opposite—either to carry out or to sit along in front of their laptops.)
Franklin Furter: Lots of great no-alcohol mocktails on the web for home. Ask Google for a recipe for no alcohol drink of your choice.
@mpbehar – Ha! I may have to check it out. I’m not a big drink-at-home kind of guy, but is definitely less expensive!