Alcohol's Effects on Health

Research-based information on drinking and its impact.

Alcohol and Young Adults Ages 18 to 25

Updated: September 2024

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Prevalence of Alcohol Use

Prevalence of Past-Month Drinking

According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 16.9 million young adults ages 18 to 25 (49.6% in this age group) reported that they drank alcohol in the past month.1,2 This includes:

  • 8.3 million males ages 18 to 25 (48.4% in this age group)1,2
  • 8.6 million females ages 18 to 25 (50.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 781,000 Asian young adults ages 18 to 25 (35.3% in this age group)1,2
  • 1.9 million Black or African American young adults ages 18 to 25 (42.7% in this age group)1,2
  • 9.9 million White young adults ages 18 to 25 (56.0% in this age group)1,2
  • 565,000 young adults of two or more races ages 18 to 25 (51.7% in this age group)1,2
  • 3.6 million Hispanic or Latino young adults ages 18 to 25 (43.8% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander young adults ages 18 to 25 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2
     

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 4.8 million full-time college students ages 18 to 25 (51.5%) and 12.3 million other persons of the same age (50.0%) reported that they drank alcohol in the past month.3

Prevalence of Past-Month Binge Drinking

4. Alcohol and young adults ages 18 to 25. Past-month binge drinking. 28.5% males vs 30.5% females. Source: 2022 NSDUH

According to the 2023 NSDUH, 9.8 million young adults ages 18 to 25 (28.7% in this age group) reported binge drinking in the past month (see glossary for definition of binge drinking).4,5 This includes:

  • 4.8 million males ages 18 to 25 (28.0% in this age group)4,5
  • 5.0 million females ages 18 to 25 (29.4% in this age group)4,5
  • 309,000 Asian young adults ages 18 to 25 (14.0% in this age group)4,5
  • 1.1 million Black or African American young adults ages 18 to 25 (23.6% in this age group)4,5
  • 5.8 million White young adults ages 18 to 25 (32.7% in this age group)4,5
  • 317,000 young adults of two or more races ages 18 to 25 (28.9% in this age group)4,5
  • 2.2 million Hispanic or Latino young adults ages 18 to 25 (26.9% in this age group)4,5
  • Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander young adults ages 18 to 25 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.4,5

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 2.7 million full-time college students ages 18 to 25 (29.0%) and 7.3 million other persons of the same age (29.7%) reported binge drinking in the past month.3

Prevalence of Past-Month Heavy Alcohol Use

According to the 2023 NSDUH, 2.4 million young adults ages 18 to 25 (6.9% in this age group) reported heavy alcohol use in the past month (see glossary for definition of heavy alcohol use).6,7 This includes:

  • 1.1 million males ages 18 to 25 (6.7% in this age group)6,7
  • 1.2 million females ages 18 to 25 (7.2% in this age group)6,7
  • 4,000 American Indian or Alaska Native young adults ages 18 to 25 (3.1% in this age group)6,7
  • 36,000 Asian young adults ages 18 to 25 (1.6% in this age group)6,7
  • 209,000 Black or African American young adults ages 18 to 25 (4.6% in this age group)6,7
  • 1.6 million White young adults ages 18 to 25 (8.9% in this age group)6,7
  • 83,000 young adults of two or more races ages 18 to 25 (7.6% in this age group)6,7
  • 449,000 Hispanic or Latino young adults ages 18 to 25 (5.4% in this age group)6,7
  • Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander young adults ages 18 to 25 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.6,7

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 700,000 full-time college students ages 18 to 25 (7.4%) and 1.9 million other persons of the same age (7.7%) reported heavy drinking in the past month.3

Prevalence of High-Intensity Drinking

According to the 2023 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Panel Study, 5.1% of full-time college students and 8.4% of non-college young adults one to four years beyond high school engaged in high-intensity drinking (10+ drinks in a row) in the last two weeks.8

Consequences of Alcohol Use

  • Alcohol is a factor in the deaths of thousands of young people every year in the United States. The most recent National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism statistics estimate that this includes 1,519 college students ages 18 to 24 and 2,586 persons the same age who die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.9
  • According to the 2022 NSDUH, 16.4% of adults ages 18 to 25 met the criteria for past-year alcohol use disorder (AUD).10 Within this age group, 14.1% of full-time college students ages 18 to 25 and 16.7% of other persons of the same age met the criteria for AUD.11
  • Although estimating the number of alcohol-related sexual assaults is exceptionally challenging because sexual assault is typically underreported, researchers have confirmed a long-standing finding that 1 in 5 college women experience sexual assault during their time in college.12 A majority of sexual assaults in college involve alcohol or other substances.13,14 Research continues to better understand the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault among college students. Additional national survey data are needed to better estimate the number of alcohol-related assaults.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), many (but not all) NSDUH estimates from 2023 are comparable with 2022 and updated 2021 estimates. However, 2021–2023 estimates are not comparable with 2020 or prior years’ estimates. Please see the 2023 NSDUH Frequently Asked Questions and section 2.3.4 of the 2023 Methodological Summary and Definitions report for more details.

References

  1. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.27A—Alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, numbers in thousands, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  2. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.27B—Alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, percentages, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  3. Past-month alcohol use: consuming a drink of a beverage containing alcohol beverage (a can or bottle of beer, a glass of wine or a wine cooler, a shot of distilled spirits, or a mixed drink with distilled spirits in it), not counting a sip or two from a drink in the past 30 days. Past-month binge drinking: consuming five or more drinks on the same occasion for males or four or more drinks on the same occasion for females on at least 1 day in the past 30 days. Past-month heavy drinking: consuming five or more drinks on the same occasion for males or four or more drinks on the same occasion for females on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days. Full-time college students: full-time students ages 18 to 25 enrolled in school at the college level. Other persons: those ages 18 to 25 not enrolled in school, enrolled in college part time, enrolled in other grades either full or part time, or enrolled with no other information available. Population prevalence estimates are weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2022-DS0001) public-use file. [cited 2024 Jan 12]. Available from: https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2022-nsduh-2022-ds0001
  4. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.28A—Binge alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, numbers in thousands, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  5. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.28B—Binge alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, percentages, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  6. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.29A—Heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, numbers in thousands, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  7. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.29B—Heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, percentages, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  8. Patrick ME, Miech RA, Johnston LD, O’Malley PM. Monitoring the Future Project. Panel study annual report: National data on substance use among adults ages 19 to 65, 1976–2023. Table 98—Thirty-day prevalence of daily use for various types of drugs, 2023: college vs. noncollege young adults 1 to 4 years beyond high school by gender. Ann Arbor (MI): Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan; 2024. Research Grant No.: R01 DA 001411 and R01 DA 016575. [cited 2024 Aug 150. Available from: https://monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mtfpanel2024.pdf 
  9. Methodology for arriving at estimates described in Hingson R, Zha W, Smyth D. Magnitude and trends in heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-impaired driving, and alcohol-related mortality and overdose hospitalizations among emerging adults of college ages 18–24 in the United States, 1998–2014. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2017;78(4):540-8. PubMed PMID: 28728636 
  10. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 5.9B—Alcohol use disorder in past year: among people aged 12 or older; by age group and demographic characteristics, percentages, 2022 and 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 12]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-detailed-tables
  11. Past-year AUD: having met two or more of the 11 AUD diagnostic criteria in the past-year according to the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM05). Full-time college students: full-time students ages 18 to 25 enrolled in school at the college level. Other persons: those ages 18 to 25 not enrolled in school, enrolled in college part-time, enrolled in other grades either full- or part-time, or enrolled with no other information available. Population prevalence estimates are weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2022-DS0001) public-use file. [cited 2024 Jan 12]. Available from: https://datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2022-nsduh-2022-ds0001
  12. Muehlenhard CL, Peterson ZD, Humphreys TP, Jozkowski KN. Evaluating the one-in-five statistic: women's risk of sexual assault while in college. J Sex Res. 2017;54(4-5):549-76. PubMed PMID: 28375675
  13. Carey KB, Durney SE, Shepardson RL, Carey MP. Incapacitated and forcible rape of college women: prevalence across the first year. J Adolesc Health. 2015;56(6):678-80. PubMed PMID: 26003585
  14. Lawyer S, Resnick H, Bakanic V, Burkett T, Kilpatrick D. Forcible, drug-facilitated, and incapacitated rape and sexual assault among undergraduate women. J Am Coll Health. 2010;58(5):453-60. PubMed PMID: 20304757

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