Fact Sheet: The Costs of Alcohol

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Alcohol use costs the United States in every conceivable way.  Some calculable costs include lost productivity (crime victims and due to illness and premature deaths), property damage, social welfare administration, criminal justice system costs, and medical consequences.

National
•    Alcohol is the third leading cause of death in the United States.  ¹

•    Each year more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol-related causes. ²

•    Problems resulting from alcohol use and abuse cost society almost $200 billion every year.

•    About 5,000 people under age 21 die annually from injuries caused by underage drinking. ³

•    Alcohol problems drain $185 billion from the US economy every year. 

•    The Healthcare costs alone from alcohol-related problems amount to more than $26 billion annually, or $686 per capita for every man, woman, and child living in the US. ⁴

California

•    Alcohol abuse cost California $17.8 in 2001 alone.  ⁵

•    California citizens spent $7.3 billion dollars in 2005 on costs related to underage drinking. These included medical costs, work lost, and pain and suffering costs. ⁶

¹ Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000, Ali H. Mokdad, PhD; James S. Marks, MD, MPH; Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc; Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1245.

² Alcoholism Fact Sheet -- the Mayo Clinic 
³ “The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007.”
⁴ Harwood, Henrick, "A Sound Investment: Identifying and Treating Alcohol Problems, Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems," The George Washing ton University Medical Center, April 2003.
⁵ The Cost of Alcohol Abuse in California: A Briefing Paper, The Institute for Social Change, Wendy Max, Ph.D., Friedner D. Wittman, Ph.D., Brad Stark, and Allyson West.  March 2004.
⁶ Miller, TR, Levy, DT, Spicer, RS, & Taylor, DM. (2006) Societal costs of underage drinking Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(4) 519-528.