La Crosse one of 10 drunkest cities in U.S.

Seven of the Top 10 cities are in Wisconsin.

It may come as no surprise that La Crosse falls in the Top 10 on a list of drunkest cities in the U.S. 

Wall Street 24/7 came up with the study, features on several factors including drunk driving crashes, excessive drinking and more.

La Crosse/Onalaska came in No. 10 and, as you can see, seven of those 10 are Wisconsin cities.

1. Green Bay, Wis.
2. Eau Claire, Wis.
3. Appleton, Wis.
4. Madison, Wis.
5. Fargo, N.D.
6. Oshkosh, Wis.
7. Missoula, Mont.
8. Grand Forks, N.D.
9. Wausau, Wis.
10. La Crosse/Onalaska, Wis.

The website writes about La Crosse/Onalaska: 

10. La Crosse/Onalaska

> Pct. adults drinking to excess: 23.8%

> Pct. driving deaths involving alcohol: 26.4%

> Est. number of bars: 88

> Median household income: $50,705

The 23.8% excessive drinking rate in the La Crosse, Minnesota metro area is higher than in the vast majority of U.S. metro areas and slightly higher than the 21.1% statewide excessive drinking rate.

Excessive drinking has considerable economic implications. According a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, excessive drinking costs the U.S. economy $249.0 billion 2015. Much of that cost was in the form of medical treatment and lost productivity. In La Crosse, however, drinking is big business. With 6.4 bars for every 10,000 residents, the metro area has the highest concentration of drinking establishments of any U.S. metro area.

Brenda Rooney with Gundersen Health System in La Crosse says the Top 10 showing is to be expected with three colleges in town.

“It is skewed because of the colleges,” she said. “Because we have colleges, we have higher education levels here and, with higher education, comes more excessive drinking.”

In dealing with the problem, Rooney said her profession doesn’t help matters.

“The health field has a struggle with conflicting studies,” she said. “How could it be helpful and harmful at the same time?”

The excessive drinking and death by drunk driving rate both declined from last year. Rooney says several education efforts are being done to help further slow the rise of risky drinking.