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CareerBuilder Analysis Finds Easiest Places to Get a Drink in the U.S.

-          Report lists cities, states and counties with most bartenders per capita

-          Las Vegas, New Orleans and Key West top lists

-          Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Great Plains and Northeast states have highest concentrations of bartenders


CHICAGO – March 16, 2015 –
Basketball tournaments, spring break vacations and holiday festivities make this time of March an especially busy season for drinking establishments. Some cities and regions, however, are better equipped to handle long lines of thirsty patrons.

According to a new analysis by CareerBuilder, there are nearly 580,000 bartenders in the U.S., equaling 1.8 per 1,000 residents; 381 cities and metropolitan areas have ratios that exceed the national average.

The analysis is based on data from Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI), CareerBuilder’s labor market analysis arm that pulls from more than 90 government and private sector resources.

VIEW & EMBED FULL RESULTS BY CITY, COUNTY AND STATE WITH INTERACTIVE MAP

Cities and Metros with most Bartenders per Capita

Unsurprisingly, two cities with large tourism industries, Las Vegas and New Orleans, have the highest ratio of bartenders per 1,000 residents (5.5 and 3.4, respectively) among major metros. Cities in the Midwest, Great Plains, Pacific Northwest and Northeast tend to have higher ratios than cities in the West, South and Southeast.

The following table shows the highest ratios among metros with populations greater than 1 million:

Metro

Population (2014)

Bartenders per 1,000 Residents

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV

2,068,145

5.5

New Orleans-Metairie, LA

1,274,362

3.4

Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY

1,131,970

3.0

Cleveland-Elyria, OH

2,050,186

3.0

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

1,580,422

2.9

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

4,714,645

2.9

Pittsburgh, PA

2,359,851

2.8

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

2,346,748

2.8

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

3,481,685

2.6

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

1,603,332

2.5

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

3,645,684

2.5

 

Among cities and metros of all sizes, Key West, FL, ranks No. 1; popular ski areas Breckenridge, CO, and Jackson, WY, also cracked the top five:   

MSA

Population (2014)

Bartenders per 1,000 Residents

Key West, FL

75,280

13.3

Spearfish, SD

24,845

8.5

Williston, ND

28,757

8.3

Jackson, WY-ID

32,538

8.3

Breckenridge, CO

28,650

8.1

 

States with Most and Least Bartenders per Capita

Two northern states, North Dakota and Montana, have the most bartenders per 1,000 residents. Southern states, many of which contain counties that prohibit or restrict the sale of alcohol, make up the majority of the bottom 10. 

Rank

State

Population (2014)

Bartenders per 1,000 Residents

1

North Dakota

716,416

5.2

2

Montana

1,020,923

5.2

3

Nevada

2,839,420

5.1

4

Wisconsin

5,777,582

4.0

5

Wyoming

590,696

3.9

6

South Dakota

849,527

3.6

7

Vermont

628,453

2.9

8

Hawaii

1,421,570

2.9

9

Minnesota

5,447,346

2.9

10

Massachusetts

6,729,710

2.8

50

Arkansas

2,990,022

0.6

49

Alabama

4,880,870

0.7

48

Mississippi

3,007,406

0.8

47

Kentucky

4,432,028

0.9

46

Georgia

10,158,835

1.0

45

Utah

2,955,804

1.0

44

Virginia

8,365,888

1.1

43

North Carolina

10,006,244

1.1

42

Tennessee

6,567,456

1.1

41

New Mexico

2,129,317

1.2

 

For the full list of states, cities and counties, take a look at this interactive map.

*Ratios are for total population, including residents under the federal drinking age.

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