Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 232.20. Percentage distribution of students in grades 9-12, by number of days they reported using alcohol anywhere during the previous 30 days and selected student characteristics: Selected years, 2013 through 2019
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Year and student characteristic 0 days 1 or 2 days 3 to 29 days All 30 days
1 2 3 4 5
2013                        
Total 65.1   (1.08) 17.3   (0.56) 16.9   (0.78) 0.8   (0.12)

Sex
                       
Male 65.6   (1.30) 15.7   (0.75) 17.4   (0.90) 1.2   (0.19)
Female 64.5   (1.39) 18.8   (0.98) 16.3   (0.88) 0.3   (0.09)

Race/ethnicity
                       
White 63.7   (1.63) 17.6   (0.87) 18.0   (1.11) 0.6   (0.13)
Black 70.4   (1.65) 15.5   (0.90) 13.6   (1.46) 0.6   (0.16)
Hispanic 62.5   (2.11) 18.0   (1.30) 18.3   (1.27) 1.2   (0.35)
Asian 78.3   (1.80) 14.8   (2.26) 6.3   (1.27)   (†)
Pacific Islander 73.2   (5.84) 18.2   (4.71) 7.5   (2.24)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 66.6   (5.13) 14.8   (4.41) 17.4 ! (5.62)   (†)
Two or more races 63.9   (2.87) 18.7   (1.71) 16.4   (2.12) 1.0 ! (0.42)

Grade
                       
9th 75.6   (1.13) 13.6   (0.89) 10.0   (0.85) 0.7   (0.22)
10th 69.1   (1.84) 15.9   (1.17) 14.5   (1.22) 0.6   (0.16)
11th 60.8   (1.52) 18.6   (1.01) 19.7   (1.26) 0.9   (0.23)
12th 53.2   (1.85) 21.5   (0.93) 24.6   (1.31) 0.7   (0.17)

2015
                       
Total 67.2   (1.18) 17.6   (0.67) 14.5   (0.85) 0.7   (0.12)

Sex
                       
Male 67.8   (0.89) 16.1   (0.76) 15.1   (0.87) 1.0   (0.23)
Female 66.5   (1.89) 19.3   (1.09) 13.9   (1.12) 0.3 (0.13)

Race/ethnicity
                       
White 64.8   (2.00) 18.5   (0.83) 16.2   (1.40) 0.5   (0.11)
Black 76.2   (2.82) 14.4   (1.82) 8.6   (1.24)   (†)
Hispanic 65.6   (1.28) 18.9   (1.25) 14.4   (0.76) 1.1   (0.25)
Asian 86.9   (1.83) 7.1   (1.48) 4.9   (0.88)   (†)
Pacific Islander 63.1   (10.62) 22.1 ! (8.78) 13.5 ! (5.64)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 54.0   (8.12) 16.3 ! (5.91) 29.3 ! (8.96)   (†)
Two or more races 60.4   (2.68) 20.2   (2.17) 19.0   (2.32)   (†)

Sexual identity1
                       
Heterosexual 67.9   (1.30) 17.5   (0.74) 13.9   (0.99) 0.6   (0.11)
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual 59.5   (2.07) 21.7   (1.84) 18.1   (1.54)   (†)
Not sure 65.4   (2.81) 14.6   (2.03) 16.6   (2.32) 3.4 ! (1.16)

Grade
                       
9th 76.6   (1.28) 14.2   (1.20) 8.5   (0.98) 0.6   (0.16)
10th 71.0   (2.49) 16.0   (1.53) 12.2   (1.25) 0.8   (0.21)
11th 62.0   (1.68) 19.9   (1.49) 17.8   (1.39) 0.3 ! (0.12)
12th 57.6   (2.00) 21.0   (1.22) 20.4   (1.49) 0.9   (0.26)

2017
                       
Total 70.2   (1.27) 16.4   (0.66) 12.8   (0.74) 0.6   (0.10)

Sex
                       
Male 72.4   (1.24) 14.6   (0.73) 12.0   (0.77) 0.9   (0.17)
Female 68.2   (1.57) 18.1   (0.94) 13.5   (0.94) 0.3   (0.08)

Race/ethnicity
                       
White 67.6   (1.73) 16.9   (0.90) 15.0   (0.96) 0.5 (0.17)
Black 79.2   (2.27) 13.8   (1.45) 6.5   (0.94) 0.6 (0.21)
Hispanic 68.7   (1.53) 17.5   (0.85) 13.2   (1.09) 0.6   (0.18)
Asian 87.8   (1.74) 8.2   (1.44) 2.9 ! (0.97)   (†)
Pacific Islander 81.3   (3.17) 9.5   (2.45) 9.0 ! (3.20)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 68.2   (8.15) 14.6   (3.29)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races 67.3   (2.50) 20.5   (2.37) 11.5   (1.66)   (†)

Sexual identity1
                       
Heterosexual 70.3   (1.02) 16.6   (0.58) 12.7   (0.64) 0.4   (0.09)
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual 62.6   (2.39) 18.9   (1.63) 17.6   (1.49) 0.8 ! (0.25)
Not sure 78.5   (2.77) 11.7   (1.64) 6.5   (1.15) 3.4 ! (1.59)

Grade
                       
9th 81.2   (1.23) 11.6   (0.69) 7.0   (0.83) 0.1 ! (0.06)
10th 73.0   (1.60) 15.2   (0.92) 11.3   (0.93) 0.6 ! (0.26)
11th 65.6   (1.68) 18.5   (1.07) 15.4   (1.15) 0.5 ! (0.20)
12th 59.2   (1.92) 21.3   (1.15) 18.5   (1.35) 1.1 ! (0.33)

2019
                       
Total 70.8   (0.96) 16.0   (0.58) 12.6   (0.55) 0.6   (0.11)

Sex
                       
Male 73.6   (1.03) 13.4   (0.55) 12.2   (0.66) 0.8   (0.15)
Female 68.1   (1.16) 18.7   (0.87) 12.8   (0.66) 0.4 ! (0.12)

Race/ethnicity
                       
White 65.8   (1.25) 17.9   (0.74) 16.0   (0.81) 0.3   (0.09)
Black 83.2   (1.78) 9.9   (1.09) 6.1   (1.07) 0.8 ! (0.28)
Hispanic 71.6   (1.17) 16.5   (1.01) 10.7   (0.57) 1.2   (0.33)
Asian 86.1   (2.01) 9.4   (1.51) 4.2   (1.08)   (†)
Pacific Islander 57.9   (9.09) 29.1 ! (9.30)   (†)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 67.4   (5.35) 17.7   (4.49) 11.5   (3.24) 3.4 ! (1.63)
Two or more races 74.0   (2.39) 13.3   (1.89) 12.7   (1.57)   (†)

Sexual identity1
                       
Heterosexual 71.2   (1.00) 15.7   (0.65) 12.6   (0.58) 0.5   (0.10)
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual 66.1   (2.11) 19.0   (1.65) 13.9   (1.36)   (†)
Not sure 74.7   (2.80) 13.9   (1.97) 8.6   (1.68) 2.7 ! (1.09)

Grade
                       
9th 81.0   (1.41) 11.0   (1.00) 7.5   (0.74) 0.5 ! (0.20)
10th 73.3   (1.60) 15.8   (0.96) 10.4   (0.85) 0.6 ! (0.23)
11th 67.7   (1.25) 18.4   (1.04) 13.4   (0.79) 0.5   (0.15)
12th 60.1   (1.45) 19.5   (0.93) 19.8   (1.19) 0.6 ! (0.23)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Students were asked which of the following--"heterosexual (straight)," "gay or lesbian," "bisexual," or “not sure"--best described them.
NOTE: The term "anywhere" is not used in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire; students were simply asked how many days during the previous 30 days they had at least one drink of alcohol. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and the suppression of cells that do not meet National Center for Education Statistics reporting standards.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 2013 through 2019. (This table was prepared September 2020.)

2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest