List of dry communities by U.S. state


The following list of dry areas by U.S. state details all of the counties / parishes / boroughs / municipalities in the United States of America that ban the sale of alcoholic beverages.
For more background information, see dry county and Prohibition in the United States. For more information on semi-wet counties, see moist county.

Overview

States that permit localities to go dry

33 states have laws that allow localities to prohibit the sale of liquor. Still, many of these states have no dry communities. Three states—Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee—are entirely dry by default: counties specifically must authorize the sale of alcohol in order for it to be legal and subject to state liquor control laws.
17 states have laws that preclude the existence of any dry counties whatsoever:
Of the 67 counties in Alabama, three are completely dry, 23 are partially dry or "moist", and 41 are completely wet. Within those 23 "moist" counties, 41 city governments have legalized alcohol sales inside their city limits.
Three terms describe Alaskan villages in common usage:
There is wide variation of restrictions placed on the possession and movement of alcohol in the "damp" villages, some villages permit residents to order alcohol from stores outside the ban area and have it shipped in, while other villages require the person owning the alcohol to personally bring the alcohol into their jurisdiction.
Beer, wine and liquor cannot be purchased in grocery stores. Convenience stores and gas stations that sell alcohol must have a separate section with a separate entrance, and separate cash registers.

Arkansas

There are three dry counties in Florida: Lafayette County in North Central Florida and Liberty and Washington counties in the Florida Panhandle.
Before 2012, Madison County was partially dry; it only allowed beer sales if the beer's alcohol content was under 6.243 percent. Madison County voters repealed that law in 2012. Suwannee County was formerly dry, but county voters chose to go "wet" by a 2-1 margin in a 2011 vote.
Until the 1950s Leon County and Wakulla County were dry. The closest spot alcohol could be legally purchased was Perry, in Taylor County.
Various Florida counties and cities are wet, but have blue laws regulating alcohol sales on Sunday morning.

Georgia

All Georgia counties are fully wet, with the exception of the following:
had prohibition longer than any other state, from 1881 to 1948, and continued to prohibit bars selling liquor by the drink until 1987. Both the 1948 amendment to the Kansas Constitution that ended prohibition and the 1986 amendment that allowed for open saloons provided that the amendments only would be in effect in counties that had approved the respective amendments, either during the election over the amendment itself or subsequently.
All counties in Kansas have approved the 1948 amendment, but 19 dry counties never approved the 1986 amendment and therefore continue to prohibit any and all sale of liquor by the drink. Public bars are illegal in these dry counties. Another 59 counties approved the 1986 amendment but with a requirement that to sell liquor by the drink, an establishment must receive 30% of its gross revenues from food sales. Only 17 counties in Kansas approved the 1986 amendment without any limitation, allowing liquor to be sold by the drink without any food sales requirement.

Kentucky

Of the 120 counties in Kentucky, 11 counties are dry, 53 are wet, and the remaining 56 are either "moist" or dry with special circumstances.

Maine

Maine has a distinctive place in the history of prohibition because its law went into effect in 1851 to make it the first dry state in the country and perhaps in the world.
Maine’s current dry towns are Amity, Atkinson, Blaine, Bowerbank, Bremen, Cary Plantation, Castle Hill, Chapman, Charleston, Charlotte, Codeyville Plantation, Deblois, Dyer Brook, Edinburg, Elliotsville Plantation, Frenchboro, Grand Falls Plantation, Hersey, Lincoln Plantation, Littleton, Long Island Plantation, Machiasport, Mariaville, Maxfield, Merrill, No. 14 Plantation, No. 33 Plantation, Ocean Park, Perham, Reed Plantation, Roque Bluffs, Seboeis Plantation, Smyrna, Swan’s Island, Sweden, Talmadge, Vienna, Wade, Westfield, Whitneyville, Willimantic.

Massachusetts

As of 2013, there were only eight completely dry towns in Massachusetts: Alford, Chilmark, Dunstable, Gosnold, Hawley, Montgomery, Mount Washington, and Westhampton. The number of dry towns has decreased over time: according to the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, there were 20 dry towns in Massachusetts in 2000.
Tisbury is a formerly dry town that became partially wet after voters passed a motion at the Tisbury town election on April 27, 2012. Alcoholic beverages may only be served to patrons who are consuming a full meal. Rockport, after being dry since 1856, allowed alcohol sales in restaurants in 2006 and in stores in 2019.

Michigan

Of the 82 counties in Mississippi, the following prohibit the sale of beer and light wine :
A separate list of wet counties and communities exists for the sale of hard liquor.

Nevada

According to the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, Ellsworth is the only town to disallow the sale of alcoholic beverages.. The most recent town to go "wet" is Sharon; the town voted to repeal its dry law in 2014.

New Jersey

New Jersey has no dry counties, but as of 2017, at least 30 municipalities prohibit the retail sale of alcohol. Most of the dry towns are in South Jersey, and some of them are dry because of their origins as Quaker, Methodist, or other Protestant religious communities. Dry towns in New Jersey cannot forbid the possession, consumption, or transportation of alcohol, but have the option to permit or prohibit BYOB at restaurants and social affair permits for non-profit organizations. It is possible for a dry town to have a winery or brewery that offers tastings, since alcohol manufacturing licenses in New Jersey are issued by the state, and are not regulated by municipalities.
Until 2018, several counties in Oklahoma were dry counties. These included Adair, Alfalfa, Beaver, Caddo, Cimarron, Coal, Cotton, Dewey, Harmon, Harper, Haskell, Hughes, Roger Mills and Washita. After State Question 792 was passed, these counties have since allowed the sale of alcohol.
As of June 2018, all 77 counties allow liquor by the drink.

Oregon

Of Texas' 254 counties, 5 are completely dry, 196 are partially dry, and 55 are entirely wet. The vast majority of entirely wet counties are in southern border regions of Texas near Mexico, or in the south central portion.
Alcohol law in Texas varies significantly by location. In some counties, 4% beer is legal. In others, beverages that are 14% or less alcohol are legal. In some "dry" areas, a customer can get a mixed drink by paying to join a "private club," and in some "wet" areas a customer needs a club membership to purchase liquor by-the-drink. "...Move to Burleson, which has alcohol sales in the Tarrant County portion of the city but not in the Johnson County side of town." Today beer and wine can be purchased in all parts of Burleson. The only places in the county where liquor can be purchased are a couple of stores inside the city limits of Alvarado.
A bill passed in 2003 by the Texas Legislature allows for Justice of the Peace precincts to host alcohol option elections. To date, this law has allowed many JP precincts, particularly in East Texas, to allow a vote that has resulted in many previously dry counties becoming "moist" and allowing sales of beer and wine, but not liquor.
Texas law prohibits off-premises sale of liquor all day on Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Off-premises sale of beer and wine on Sunday is only allowed after 12:01 pm.
Texas law also prohibits the sale of alcohol in any "sexually oriented business" in a dry county. Strip clubs in these dry counties often sell "set ups" and have a BYOB policy to allow patrons to bring their own alcohol into the establishment.

Utah

As of September 2018 there are 9 cities where alcoholic beverages cannot be purchased.
Beer and wine sales are legal in all of Virginia. Of the 95 counties in Virginia, 9 counties are dry in that retail sale of distilled spirits is prohibited. Virginia cities are not subject to county alcohol laws as they are independent by state law, and all Virginia cities are wet. Virginia also restricts the sale of hard liquors to State-run stores, or VA ABC stores. This set up is unique in that the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control not only is responsible for the sale of liquor, but also for the enforcement of alcohol-related laws in addition to public education campaigns. These campaigns are generally geared towards young adults not of drinking age, but also cover topics such as substance abuse, training for hospitality industry employees, and cautioning of the dangers of mixing alcohol and medications.

Washington