Which state leads in sheep?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states have the most sheep? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Wyoming — cowboy and sheep country!
Answer
The real order is…
Texas has about 1.31× as many as #2 California!
📚 Background Texas again! Cattle, goats, and sheep too — Texas leads them all. Its huge dry rangelands have room for every kind of grazing animal, with California and Colorado next in line. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🛡️『The guard animal squad』→ I bet… Wyoming — cowboy and sheep country!
Compare
Sheep & lambs (head, by state, Jan 1, 2025)
Most: Texas (670,000 head); least of this top group: Montana (183,000 head).
Note: measured in head. 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
🏅 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 | 670,000 head | 13.3% |
| #2 | California | 510,000 head | 10.1% |
| #3 | Colorado | 405,000 head | 8.1% |
| #4 | Wyoming | 295,000 head | 5.9% |
| #5 | Utah | 280,000 head | 5.6% |
| #6 | Idaho | 235,000 head | 4.7% |
| #7 | South Dakota | 205,000 head | 4.1% |
| #8 | Montana | 183,000 head | 3.6% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 5,025,000 head | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Figures are published for 32 states; this table shows the top 8.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2025 (Jan 1))
Sources
Data as of: 2025 (Jan 1)
USDA NASS Quick Stats: SHEEP, INCL LAMBS - 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 States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.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 SHEEP, INCL LAMBS / INVENTORY, year 2025 (first of Jan), and compare states.