The independent variable is per capita alcohol consumption for each State for 1970, 1980, and 1985 (Beer Institute, 1986). The dependent variable consists of comparable annual data for Uniform Crime Report total index offenses, total index property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft), and total index violent crime (murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery) per the Department of Justice information for 1970, 1980, and 1985. Several other socioeconomic variables known to be related to drinking rates and/or crime are also included in the analysis. These variables are rate of unemployment, percent of population which is black, population density, per capita income, and percent of population between the ages of 18-24. The method of analysis involves correlational analysis at both the zero-order and multivariate levels. Regression analysis, based on ordinary least squares, is the primary statistical technique used. The regression equations that analyze the relationship of per capita alcohol consumption and several other predictor variables to crime rates find that per capital consumption of alcohol is significant or approaches significance in five of the nine regression equations. This suggests that per capita alcohol consumption may be a contributing factor for serious crime in the United States. Crime rates might thus be reduced through government efforts to limit (but not prohibit) per capita alcohol consumption. 1 table, 2 notes, and 19 references