Photo by Jon Grant

We already knew D.C. was one of the drunkest cities in the country, but we didn’t know how bad it was until now: A new study on the high costs of excessive drinking from the Centers for Disease Control pegs Washington as one of the most expensive binge-drinking areas in the country.

A press release from the CDC outlines the economic burden binge drinking has on U.S. states and D.C. using data from 2006, the most recent year available:

Study authors found that costs due to excessive drinking largely resulted from losses in workplace productivity, health care expenses, and other costs due to a combination of criminal justice expenses, motor vehicle crash costs, and property damage.

Binge drinking, which is “defined as consuming five or more drinks on an occasion for men or four or more drinks on an occasion for women,” according to the press release, was responsible for “70 percent of excessive alcohol use related costs in all states and D.C.,” with D.C. among the top offenders:

The District of Columbia had the highest per-person cost ($1,662), while Utah had the highest cost per drink ($2.74).

The study also includes the percentage range of productivity losses from binge drinking among all the states and D.C. Again, D.C.—presumably with a frosty pint held high and a resounding “HELL YEAH!”—topped that range:

Across all states and D.C., excessive drinking costs due to productivity losses ranged from 61 percent in Wyoming to 82 percent in D.C., and the share of costs due to health care expenses ranged from 8 percent in Texas to 16 percent in Vermont.

From there on, the findings only get more depressing:

Researchers believe that the study’s findings are underestimated because it did not consider a number of other costs, such as those due to pain and suffering by the excessive drinker or others who were affected by the drinking.

Oy.

So anyways, bottoms up, D.C.! You’re draining our economy.