Which state leads in cattle?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states have the most cattle? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Montana — Big Sky, big herds!
Answer
The real order is…
Texas has about 2× as many as #2 Nebraska!
📚 Background Texas, of course — everything's bigger there, including the herds. Vast ranches have made Texas the cattle king for generations. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🐐『Why Texas is goat country』→ I bet… Montana — Big Sky, big herds!
Compare
Cattle (head, by state, 2025 (Jan 1))
Most: Texas (12,100,000 head); least of this top group: South Dakota (3,500,000 head).
Note: measured in head. Only the top states are shown; ranks can shift between years. Top 8 states shown (the data covers all 50).
Where things grow has a reason!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Texas 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 | Texas | 12,100,000 head | 14% |
| #2 | Nebraska | 6,050,000 head | 7% |
| #3 | Kansas | 5,950,000 head | 6.9% |
| #4 | California | 5,050,000 head | 5.8% |
| #5 | Oklahoma | 4,600,000 head | 5.3% |
| #6 | Missouri | 3,950,000 head | 4.6% |
| #7 | Iowa | 3,500,000 head | 4% |
| #7 | South Dakota | 3,500,000 head | 4% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 86,472,200 head | 100% |
Top 8 states shown (the data covers all 50).
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2025 (Jan 1))
Sources
Data as of: 2025 (Jan 1)
USDA NASS Quick Stats: CATTLE, INCL CALVES - INVENTORY, 2025, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-12) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick CATTLE, INCL CALVES / INVENTORY in HEAD, year 2025, and compare states.