Pour one out, or maybe just crack open a seltzer, for America’s drinking habit. According to Gallup’s 2025 Consumption Habits survey, only 54% of U.S. adults now say they drink alcohol. That’s the lowest level Gallup has recorded in nearly 90 years of polling, down from 67% just two years ago.
In Richmond, the picture is more nuanced. Nightlife is still thriving as Square reported last year that 35% of in-person bar and restaurant transactions occur after 7 pm, a jump from pre-pandemic levels. That puts Richmond in the same league as Miami and New York City for late-night dining and drinking activity.
But behind that steady hum, binge drinking rates (about 16% for Richmond residents) match national averages, and younger locals, like their peers nationwide, are rethinking alcohol altogether.
Health Warnings Hit Hard
For the first time in Gallup’s history, a majority of Americans (53%) believe moderate drinking, defined as one or two drinks a day, is bad for your health. That’s a sharp turn from the early 2000s, when only about a quarter of respondents felt that way.
Public health messaging has shifted, hard. The World Health Organization now says there’s no safe level of alcohol use, and recent studies link even light drinking to higher risks of at least seven cancers. In Richmond, this message is landing most with 18-to-34-year-olds, a group that has seen post-pandemic declines in binge drinking and is increasingly opting for non-alcoholic alternatives.
Behavior is shifting across the country:
- Only 24% of Americans said they’d had a drink in the past 24 hours, a record low.
- 40% said it had been more than a week since their last drink, the highest since 2000.
- The average weekly consumption is now 2.8 drinks, the lowest since Gallup began tracking in 1996.
If It’s Not Weed…
While some assume cannabis might be stealing alcohol’s thunder, Gallup says marijuana use has been flat in recent years. The more likely factor? Money. Barclays beverage analyst Laurence Whyatt points to tight budgets and inflation as the main reasons people are buying less booze.
This plays out locally, too. Richmond’s beer prices have crept up, and cocktail bars, though still popular, are increasingly offering craft mocktails alongside the real thing. Meanwhile, nicotine is holding its market share nationally. Tobacco companies like Altria (based in nearby Henrico County) are seeing stock gains, while beer giants are struggling.
The Generational Shift
Nationally, only 50% of 18-to-34-year-olds now say they drink, down from 59% two years ago. Two-thirds believe moderate drinking is unhealthy. Richmond mirrors this split: younger residents may still pack shows at The Broadberry or Gallery5, but they’re just as likely to be holding a can of locally non alcoholic, like Richmond’s Hike Sopped Seltzer as a beer.
The city’s “sober curious” movement is small but growing, with non-alcoholic bottle shops, kombucha on tap, and sober-friendly pop-ups becoming part of the cultural mix. It’s not that young Richmonders are ditching bars; they’re redefining what a night out looks like.
Zooming Out
If these trends hold, especially among younger generations, the U.S. may be headed toward a slow-motion cultural shift away from alcohol, similar to how smoking fell from public favor over decades.
For Richmond, that doesn’t mean the end of nightlife. It means the city’s celebrated arts-and-music-driven evenings could become less about pints and more about presence, whether that’s a mocktail at a First Fridays opening, a soda water at a metal show, or nothing in hand at all.
Photo by CJ Payne
Support RVA Magazine. Support independent media in Richmond.
In a world where corporations and wealthy individuals now shape much of our media landscape, RVA Magazine remains fiercely independent, amplifying the voices of Richmond’s artists, musicians, and community. Since 2005, we’ve been dedicated to authentic, grassroots storytelling that highlights the people and culture shaping our city.
But we can’t do this without you. A small donation, even as little as $2 – one-time or recurring – helps us continue to produce honest, local coverage free from outside interference. Every dollar makes a difference. Your support keeps us going and keeps RVA’s creative spirit alive. Thank you for standing with independent media. DONATE HERE.
Also, you can show your support by purchasing our merch HERE.
