Iowans Aren't Drinking As Much Now, State Collecting Less Money

Is booze still a staple of Midwest culture?

One thing you probably think of when you think of springs/summers in Iowa is sitting on the driveway, having a garage beer with your friends/neighbors, unwinding with the cooler close by.

But it doesn't seem like that's as common as it maybe used to be.

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Numbers from the Iowa Department of Revenue (which collects taxes, oversees the lottery, and regulates booze) show that the state isn't making as much money off of alcohol sales these days.

According to KWQC, an Iowa Senate subcommittee met this week and heard that "changing alcohol consumption patterns" are one of the reasons that revenue is down.

And it's a lot: they're down by about $5 million this fiscal year to be exact, which was reported by Department of Revenue Director Mary Mosiman. Another expense was adding employees for the next fiscal year.

In the subcommittee meeting, Mosiman outlined fiscal year 2026, saying the Iowa Lottery alone generates about $400 million. So it's doing fine. But alcohol sales across Iowa are declining.

It's being credited as part of the (very real) national trend to drink less, which is popular especially across younger consumers. Even recently, the trend of 'dry dinners' has been all over TikTok. Mosiman still said:

People are just drinking less...But that being said, we are still close to $450 million, $478 million in the previous fiscal year, but we’re budgeting $452 to come in from the different sources of revenue when it comes to the alcohol.

There weren't statistics given on what kind of alcohol is selling these days, whether it's beer, wine, or liquor.