Where can you buy liquor?

Why every state does it differently

National Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933, when the 21st Amendment was ratified. Its first section repealed Prohibition. Its second bans bringing alcohol into a state in violation of that state's laws. That second section left each state to decide for itself how liquor would be sold, and the Supreme Court still weighs state alcohol laws in light of it.

States set up their systems quickly. New Hampshire opened its first state liquor store in 1934. West Virginia created an Alcohol Beverage Control Commission in 1935, which for its first 56 years was the state's only wholesaler and retailer of liquor. North Carolina's 1937 law let each county vote on whether to sell liquor at all. Counties that said yes got a local ABC board to run the stores, under a new state commission.

State power has limits. In 2019, in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas, the Supreme Court struck down a Tennessee rule that anyone applying for a liquor store license must have lived in the state for the previous two years. The Court held that the rule plainly favored Tennessee residents, which violates the Commerce Clause, and that the 21st Amendment did not save it.

The same state control reaches liquor carried across state lines. Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board says that bringing any liquor, including wine, into the state is generally illegal, with limited exceptions. One of these lets people moving to Pennsylvania bring their own bottles for personal use, but the board must approve it in advance.

Sources: National Archives: The Constitution, Amendments 11-27 (Amendment XXI) · U.S. Supreme Court: Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas, No. 18-96 (2019), slip opinion · New Hampshire Liquor Commission: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year 2025 · West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration: History · North Carolina ABC Commission: agency profile (December 2018) · Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: Legal FAQ, New Pennsylvania Residents (updated May 2017)

Control states and license states

States that buy or sell liquor themselves are called control states. The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, a trade group for their agencies, counts 17 of them, plus Montgomery County, Maryland. By its figures, based on 2019 data, these places held about 24.7 percent of the U.S. population and about 23 percent of distilled spirits sales. In 13 of them, the government also controls retail sales for drinking at home, through its own stores or through agents. The other states license private wholesalers and stores and don't buy or sell spirits themselves.

After Prohibition, the country settled on what's called a three-tier system: producers sell to wholesalers, and wholesalers sell to retailers. A control state puts a government agency into one of those tiers or more. Federal tax is the same everywhere. The general federal excise tax on distilled spirits is $13.50 per proof gallon, which is a gallon of liquid that is 50 percent alcohol. At that rate, a 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof liquor carries about $2.14 in federal tax before any state markup or tax. Each producer's first 100,000 proof gallons a year are taxed at a reduced rate of $2.70.

Control usually covers spirits, not everything with alcohol in it. Utah's supermarkets may sell packaged beer, and Virginia licenses private stores to sell wine and beer, while spirits in both states stay in government stores.

Sources: National Alcohol Beverage Control Association: Control State Directory and Info · North Carolina ABC Commission: agency profile (December 2018) · TTB: Tax Rates (distilled spirits) · 27 CFR § 19.1, definition of proof gallon (Cornell LII)

Three kinds of control

In the strictest systems, government employees sell most of the liquor. Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board runs more than 560 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores. Utah's law caps state stores at one per 48,000 residents, and contract package agencies fill in smaller towns and resorts. North Carolina's stores belong to local ABC boards, which are government bodies of their own. As of fiscal year 2018, the state commission shipped liquor to 168 local boards running 430 stores. Idaho counts more contract stores than state stores, but its 68 state-run stores appear to carry most sales.

In agency states, the state owns the liquor but private businesses run every store, or nearly every one, under a state contract. Oregon has more than 280 independent liquor agents, Vermont's agency stores trade as 802Spirits, and Maine no longer runs any state liquor stores. Ohio pays its agents a commission capped at 7 percent of sales. The state sets prices in these systems, though Montana's agency stores set their own shelf prices above a state minimum.

In wholesale-only states, retailers must buy their liquor from the state, but they own their stores. Pricing rules differ. Michigan's licensed take-home liquor sellers, called specially designated distributors, may not sell below a minimum retail price set by the state's Liquor Control Commission. West Virginia's retailers set their own prices, as long as they charge at least 110 percent of their cost. Alabama also runs a chain of its own stores alongside private ones, and West Virginia and Iowa allow public stores only where no private store operates.

Sources: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board news release, Nov. 19, 2025: PLCB, Fine Wine & Good Spirits reinvest in Pennsylvania · North Carolina ABC Commission: agency profile (December 2018) · MCL 436.1229 (Michigan Legislature)

What control states earn

A control state earns money as a merchant, not just as a tax collector. Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board reported $3.16 billion in wine and spirits sales for fiscal year 2024–25, counting liquor and sales taxes. More than $815 million went to the state's General Fund: $444.4 million in liquor tax, $176 million in state sales tax, and $194.6 million in cash transfers.

Virginia's ABC Authority, which runs 401 stores, sold 6.4 million cases of spirits, Virginia wine and mixers in fiscal year 2025. That brought in $1.5 billion in gross revenue, including license fees and taxes, and the authority transferred $628.1 million to the state's general fund.

New Hampshire's Liquor Commission, which runs 65 state outlets, had $742.4 million in sales in fiscal year 2025 and delivered $120.2 million to the state's General Fund. The commission says it has earned more than $4.7 billion in net profits since 1934. Its yearly net profit has fallen from about $173 million in fiscal year 2022. The commission says it faces competition on all its borders, mainly from large private retailers, along with other control states and the spread of legal cannabis in New England.

Profits often reach local governments too. In North Carolina's 2017 figures, 72.4 percent of net spirits revenue went to the state's General Fund and 17.6 percent to counties and cities. Smaller shares paid for the commission's own costs, local law enforcement, alcohol education and rehabilitation programs.

Sources: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board news release, Nov. 19, 2025: PLCB, Fine Wine & Good Spirits reinvest in Pennsylvania · Virginia ABC Authority: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year 2025 (RD985) · New Hampshire Liquor Commission: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year 2025 · North Carolina ABC Commission: agency profile (December 2018)

States that changed systems

Several states have shifted from one model to another by getting out of retail. Starting in 1986, according to a 2018 timeline from Iowa's Legislative Services Agency, Iowa began closing its state-run liquor stores and created the Class E license, which lets private stores sell liquor. The state kept its role as the only wholesaler of liquor and moved beer and wine wholesaling entirely to private companies.

West Virginia followed. On February 27, 1990, Senate Bill 337 ended retail liquor sales in state stores. A new Retail Liquor Licensing Board divided the state into market zones and sold retail licenses by bid in all 98 zones, which allowed up to 214 private liquor stores. The licenses ran for 10 years, and the 1990–2000 round raised $15.3 million.

Washington went further. It ran state liquor stores until voters approved Initiative 1183 in November 2011, which ended the state's role and created a private spirits retail license. Licenses generally go to stores with at least 10,000 square feet of retail space, so liquor in Washington is now sold mostly by large grocery and big-box stores, and licensees pay the state a fee of 17 percent of their spirits sales.

Sources: Iowa Legislative Services Agency, Issue Review (Jan. 4, 2018): Iowa's Craft Beer Industry (timeline) · West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration: History · RCW 66.24.630

Differences among license states

Private does not always mean the supermarket. New York and Rhode Island require liquor stores to be separate businesses that sell little besides alcohol, and New York allows one store license per person. In other states, such as North Dakota, grocery and convenience stores can sell spirits under conditions, while Oklahoma's grocery licenses cover beer and wine only.

In several states, local voters decide whether liquor can be sold at all. In Texas, voters in a county, city or precinct choose which kinds of alcohol sales to allow. In March 2025, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission counted 60 completely wet counties and three completely dry ones. Kentucky allows liquor sales only in wet areas. Cities and towns in Massachusetts, and towns in Maine and Vermont, vote on whether to allow sales. North Carolina reported in 2018 that some cities, parts of counties and one entire county were still dry.

Local government sometimes runs stores even in license states. Some smaller cities in Minnesota and towns in South Dakota operate municipal liquor stores, and in Maryland, Montgomery County holds a monopoly on take-home liquor sales within the county. Because those systems cover only part of a state, they're noted on the state's record rather than changing its answer.

Sources: Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Mar. 28, 2025: TABC publishes interactive wet/dry map · North Carolina ABC Commission: agency profile (December 2018)