Which state leads in milk?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states produce the most milk? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Wisconsin — the dairy state!
Answer
The real order is…
California produces about 1.25× as much as #2 Wisconsin!
📚 Background Surprise: California out-milks Wisconsin! Its Central Valley has some of the biggest dairy farms in the country. (Don't worry — Wisconsin still wins at cheese.) (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🧀『How Wisconsin became America's Dairyland』→ I bet… Wisconsin — the dairy state!
Compare
Milk (pounds, by state, 2024)
Most: California (40,288,000,000 pounds); least of this top group: Pennsylvania (9,782,000,000 pounds).
Note: measured in pounds. Only the top states are shown; ranks can shift between years. 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
🏅 California 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 | California | 40,288,000,000 pounds | 17.8% |
| #2 | Wisconsin | 32,332,000,000 pounds | 14.3% |
| #3 | Texas | 17,037,000,000 pounds | 7.5% |
| #4 | Idaho | 17,022,000,000 pounds | 7.5% |
| #5 | New York | 16,110,000,000 pounds | 7.1% |
| #6 | Michigan | 12,133,000,000 pounds | 5.4% |
| #7 | Minnesota | 10,396,000,000 pounds | 4.6% |
| #8 | Pennsylvania | 9,782,000,000 pounds | 4.3% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 225,889,000,000 pounds | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Figures are published for 48 states; this table shows the top 8.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2024)
Sources
Data as of: 2024
USDA NASS Quick Stats: MILK - PRODUCTION, MEASURED IN LB, 2024, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-12) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick MILK / PRODUCTION in LB, year 2024, and compare states.