2021 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Alcohol Consumption

One drink is equivalent to a 12 ounce beer, a 5 ounce glass of wine, or a drink with one shot of liquor.
During the past 30 days, on the days when you drank, about how many drinks did you drink on the average?*

View results for a demographic group:
 Select a different topic:
View results for a different geographical area:
  Total
Respond.^		 Only one Two Three Four Five or more
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
North Carolina 2,254 892 36.8 34.5-39.3 733 32.9 30.6-35.3 291 13.8 12.1-15.7 118 5.9 4.7- 7.4 220 10.6 9.1-12.3
-MALES 1,204 376 28.4 25.5-31.6 390 31.5 28.5-34.8 192 17.5 14.9-20.4 78 7.5 5.7- 9.9 168 15.0 12.6-17.7
RACE
Non-Hispanic White 847 270 29.5 26.0-33.2 289 33.0 29.4-36.8 132 15.8 13.0-19.0 47 6.0 4.2- 8.4 109 15.7 12.9-19.0
Non-Hispanic Black 155 55 30.0 22.0-39.4 50 29.2 21.2-38.9 28 22.6 15.0-32.5 *** *** *** 12 8.8 4.2-17.5
Other 183 43 20.0 13.6-28.2 41 23.4 16.6-32.0 32 22.0 14.9-31.4 20 13.6 8.1-21.9 47 21.0 14.9-28.7
AGE
18-34 312 57 20.9 15.8-26.9 100 27.4 22.2-33.2 64 22.4 17.2-28.7 33 11.3 7.6-16.7 58 18.0 13.5-23.7
35-44 213 50 19.8 14.6-26.4 61 29.6 22.6-37.7 43 19.5 13.9-26.7 16 9.7 5.3-17.1 43 21.3 15.2-29.1
45-54 202 62 28.6 21.8-36.5 70 35.5 28.0-43.8 32 16.1 10.9-23.2 13 7.2 3.6-14.1 25 12.5 8.0-19.1
55-64 189 60 28.1 21.2-36.3 65 39.6 31.5-48.2 33 17.8 11.9-25.8 12 4.6 2.5- 8.4 19 9.9 6.0-15.7
65-74 177 86 48.5 39.6-57.4 59 31.1 23.5-39.7 15 9.0 5.0-15.6 *** *** *** 15 10.7 6.2-18.0
75+ 92 *** *** *** 29 26.8 18.1-37.8 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 84 15 12.9 7.2-22.1 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
H.S. or G.E.D. 255 67 26.9 20.8-34.1 75 26.8 21.0-33.5 40 18.6 13.4-25.1 22 9.2 5.7-14.5 51 18.5 13.3-25.1
Some Post-H.S. 298 94 29.7 24.2-35.9 87 30.5 24.8-36.9 57 19.4 14.6-25.4 21 7.0 4.4-11.1 39 13.3 9.5-18.3
College Graduate 563 197 32.6 28.4-37.0 208 38.3 33.9-42.9 82 14.5 11.5-18.2 27 4.6 3.1- 6.9 49 9.9 7.3-13.3
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 30 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
$15,000- 24,999 81 *** *** *** 17 18.7 10.6-30.8 14 18.2 10.0-30.8 *** *** *** 17 16.8 9.8-27.4
$25,000- 34,999 88 *** *** *** 22 21.3 13.3-32.5 *** *** *** *** *** *** 17 17.8 10.3-29.2
$35,000- 49,999 129 43 27.9 20.3-37.2 43 35.7 26.6-45.9 15 15.3 8.8-25.1 11 9.5 4.6-18.8 17 11.6 6.7-19.4
$50,000- 74,999 180 65 34.2 26.4-43.0 55 31.9 24.0-41.0 31 15.5 10.6-22.1 *** *** *** 19 11.6 7.0-18.5
$75,000+ 502 146 25.0 20.9-29.6 184 35.5 30.7-40.6 82 17.8 14.0-22.4 30 6.2 4.1- 9.2 60 15.5 11.6-20.4
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 291 122 35.6 29.5-42.2 73 26.2 20.5-33.0 40 14.9 10.1-21.4 15 5.9 3.2-10.6 41 17.4 12.3-24.0
No 903 251 26.2 22.9-29.9 314 33.4 29.8-37.1 151 18.3 15.4-21.7 62 8.0 5.9-10.9 125 14.1 11.5-17.1
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 288 110 36.1 29.6-43.0 99 32.7 26.6-39.6 38 12.3 8.7-17.3 18 7.0 3.8-12.3 23 11.9 7.3-18.8
Non-Veteran 909 264 26.1 22.9-29.6 288 31.3 27.8-35.0 153 18.9 15.9-22.5 59 7.7 5.6-10.4 145 16.0 13.4-19.1
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT1
Urban 449 121 24.1 19.9-29.0 162 37.8 32.5-43.4 76 18.4 14.2-23.5 29 5.8 3.9- 8.6 61 13.8 10.3-18.3
Regional City or Suburban County 337 120 32.3 26.6-38.6 101 26.9 21.7-32.7 45 15.5 11.1-21.1 30 11.7 7.5-18.0 41 13.6 9.6-19.0
Rural 418 135 30.2 25.1-35.8 127 28.1 23.3-33.5 71 18.2 14.1-23.2 19 5.6 3.3- 9.3 66 17.9 13.8-23.0
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 826 209 23.0 19.8-26.5 270 32.0 28.4-36.0 151 19.7 16.5-23.3 62 7.9 5.9-10.5 134 17.4 14.4-20.9
Unemployed 57 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Retired 243 127 54.2 46.4-61.7 76 29.5 23.1-36.9 20 9.1 5.3-15.1 *** *** *** 17 6.4 3.8-10.7
Unable to Work 41 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Other not in Labor Force 27 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
POVERTY LEVEL2
Less than 50% 13 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 62 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
101% to 150% 59 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
151% to 200% 91 25 24.5 16.1-35.4 21 19.0 12.0-28.8 *** *** *** *** *** *** 18 18.4 11.0-29.0
More than 200% 776 243 27.5 24.0-31.2 271 35.4 31.4-39.5 125 16.5 13.6-19.9 46 6.3 4.5- 8.6 91 14.4 11.4-18.0
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 245 71 26.0 20.0-33.0 69 22.4 17.0-28.8 39 18.5 12.9-25.7 18 11.3 6.4-19.4 48 21.8 15.7-29.5
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 498 162 30.8 26.2-35.9 163 31.3 26.7-36.3 79 17.0 13.4-21.4 32 6.2 4.2- 9.1 62 14.6 11.2-19.0
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 461 143 27.4 22.9-32.4 158 35.7 30.6-41.1 74 17.4 13.4-22.4 28 7.1 4.5-11.0 58 12.4 9.2-16.5
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 416 134 29.4 24.4-35.0 140 34.6 29.3-40.3 62 16.3 12.3-21.3 28 8.0 5.2-12.1 52 11.7 8.6-15.7
2nd Quartile 346 107 28.5 23.3-34.3 110 32.2 26.6-38.2 60 17.3 13.0-22.8 22 6.1 3.6-10.2 47 15.9 11.7-21.2
3rd Quartile 342 106 27.1 22.1-32.8 110 28.5 23.3-34.3 58 19.7 14.9-25.6 23 8.7 5.1-14.4 45 16.0 11.6-21.8
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 100 *** *** *** 30 24.5 15.8-35.9 *** *** *** *** *** *** 24 23.1 14.6-34.5

Back to Alcohol Consumption.

*This question was asked only of respondents who reported drinking at least one drink in the last month.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in the weighting methodology and other factors, results from 2021
are NOT comparable to 2010 and earlier years.

***The estimate was suppressed because it did not meet statistical reliability standards. See BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for more details.

1Based on U.S Census Bureau population estimates at the county level. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

2Based on 2021 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

3NC Dept. of Commerce County Tier Classification, based on respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

4Quartile of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index
(https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html) for respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

^Use caution in interpreting cell sizes less than 50, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

BRFSS Home | Annual Questionnaires | Technical Notes

This page was generated on 19AUG22.

SCHS Home | FAQs | Contacts