Which state has the most bison?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states have the most bison on farms? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Wyoming — Yellowstone country!
Answer
The real order is…
South Dakota has about 1.06× as many as #2 Nebraska — a photo finish!
📚 Background America's national mammal is back in business: South Dakota edges Nebraska in a near photo-finish of farm and ranch bison. A century ago bison nearly vanished — ranches like these are part of why they returned. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
Biscuit's fun facts
📚 Stated as fact by textbooks / public agencies
Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. Fossils, tribal oral histories and early travelers' stories all say they were there.
Who says so: National Park Service (Yellowstone) (opens in a new tab)
I bet… Wyoming — Yellowstone country!
Compare
Bison on farms (Census of Agriculture, 2022)
Most: South Dakota (33,995 bison); least shown here: Texas (8,187 bison).
Note: measured in bison on farms and ranches (wild herds counted separately). Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Where things grow has a reason!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 South Dakota is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 8)
| Rank | State | Value | Share of U.S. total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | South Dakota | 33,995 bison | 17.7% |
| #2 | Nebraska | 32,206 bison | 16.7% |
| #3 | Montana | 20,466 bison | 10.6% |
| #4 | North Dakota | 12,487 bison | 6.5% |
| #5 | Colorado | 9,555 bison | 5% |
| #6 | Wyoming | 8,715 bison | 4.5% |
| #7 | Kansas | 8,672 bison | 4.5% |
| #8 | Texas | 8,187 bison | 4.3% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 192,477 bison | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Figures are published for 44 states; this table shows the top 8.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2022 (Census of Agriculture))
Sources
Data as of: 2022 (Census of Agriculture)
USDA NASS Quick Stats: BISON - INVENTORY, 2022, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-12) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick BISON / INVENTORY, Census year 2022, and compare states.