I am suspicious that reporting methods/thresholds may vary by state. The lines follow political boundaries too closely. When you see a very dry county next to a boozy one despite both being in the same metro area and with broadly similar populations it is hard to believe the data is accurate. Growing up in West Virginia I also don't think it is especially dry compared to neighboring Virginia or Ohio.
As a Wisconsinite, fuck the tavern league. I love beer but these guys have so much power they're actually holding Wisconsin back. They're why we don't have alcohol delivery services, legalized marijuana, and taprooms can't serve food because "it'll hurt brick and mortar bar sales".
As a lifelong midwesterner and recent Wisconsin transplant, the Tavern League might be the most bizarre thing I've ever encountered in the politics of my home state.
I grew up in a state where, for a few years, we had more former governors in jail than out of jail. I also lived in a state whose Democrats don't go by that name - oh no, they're the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party, for cripe's sake! Yet, Wisconsin has both Illinois and Minnesota beat with its enormously powerful and well-funded lobbying group of... bars?!
It's also a bit of a racket too from what I've heard. They are partnered up with advertising, marketing, music booking agencies, atm/gambling services, etc and you'll be left out of things if you're a bar and not a member.
The result are by county, so they will follow political boundaries no matter what since that’s how counties are designed. Look at Denver - very dark red obtuse shapes next to mild yellow on all sides.
Some of the places I’ve lived have had stark cultural differences from one county to the next. You can cross an invisible line and suddenly everything is different, from the people to the liquor laws.
Maryland is like that - the sales laws vary per county. Not a lot and there is mostly commonality, but enough to notice.
Then DC and Virginia is different too, so it feels even weirder. There is enough cross state line traffic that people forget they are different states.
You have a lot of homebrewed beer in WV (and i mean a lot, enough to have a full day 300 people festival in the middle of nowhere). Ans you can still find some under the mantle moonshine there too, at least that was the case in 2019. If its based on sale taxes, it's probably what cause the difference.
Can you come up with a reason the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey would be wrong here? It groups respondents by county of residence. It's a long-running, well-funded, and valuable survey.
