Arizona Sees Largest Drop in Young Adult Drinking

Federal survey estimates show past-month alcohol use among Arizonans ages 18-25 fell sharply between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Substance Abuse

Bold flat-color vector illustration of a row of plain glass bottles descending in height from left to right against a cream background, suggesting a steady decline. — Past-month alcohol use among Arizona adults ages 18-25 fell from 53.4% in 2021-22 to 41.6% in 2023-24, the largest drop of any state, federal survey data show. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Do you think young adults in your area are drinking less than they used to?

Analysis of federal survey data found Arizona recorded the largest decline in past-month drinking among young adults ages 18-25 of any state. Past-month use fell from 53.4% in 2021-22 to 41.6% in 2023-24, an 11.8 percentage-point drop.

Why it matters

The decline places Arizona ahead of Hawaii and Iowa in the reduction of young adult drinking, a shift tracked across states through the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Nationally, past-month use among adults ages 18-25 also dropped, from 50.9% in 2021 to 47.5% in 2024.

Arizona's 18-25 past-month drinking fell from 53.4% in 2021-22 to 41.6% in 2023-24, compared with declines of 10.2 points in Hawaii and 8.4 points in Iowa. SAMHSA cautions that methodology changes limit direct comparison with earlier survey periods.

The players

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

SAMHSA is the federal agency that administers the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and publishes state-level estimates of substance use.

Tmrw

Tmrw is the organization that analyzed the federal survey data and reported the state-by-state changes in young adult drinking.

The details

Tmrw analyzed federal survey data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which SAMHSA uses to produce two-year state estimates through statistical modeling. Tmrw also reported increases in several states, including Alabama and Tennessee.

2021-22: Survey period with 53.4% past-month drinking among Arizona 18-25-year-olds.
2022-23: Survey period with 46.2% past-month drinking among Arizona 18-25-year-olds.
2023-24: Survey period with 41.6% past-month drinking among Arizona 18-25-year-olds.

Health Landscape

The decline draws on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the long-running federal survey used to track substance use across states and age groups. Its two-year state estimates allow comparisons over time, though SAMHSA notes methodology changes that complicate direct comparison with earlier periods.

The survey points to changes in how many younger adults in Arizona report drinking monthly, which may shape how families and clinicians think about alcohol use in this age group. Whether these lighter habits persist as respondents age remains to be seen.

The takeaway

Monthly drinking among young adults can shift meaningfully over a few years, so tracking state-level survey trends can help show whether those changes hold. Readers interested in the underlying figures can consult the survey's state estimates for later periods as they are released.