States in Numbers / America in real numbers🏠

Which state sells the most farm-raised trout?

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Guess

Which states sell the most farm-raised trout? Tap them most-to-least.

Tapping assigns 1→4 in order

It's a fish, so… a state on the coast! North Carolina? 🐾

Answer

Among the states USDA lists, the order is…
    Idaho — a state with no ocean at all — sells more than half of America's food-size trout, about 8.54× as much as North Carolina, the next state on USDA's list. Trout are a cold-water fish, and Idaho has cold water in a strange place: underground. Rain and snowmelt sink into the cracked volcanic rock of the Snake River Plain and pour back out of the canyon wall as big springs, at nearly the same temperature summer and winter. That is exactly the kind of water a trout farm needs. Idaho is also America's #1 potato state — same volcanic plain, different crop.
    📚 Background A fish champion with no ocean. Idaho sells more than half of America's food-size trout — and trout are a cold-water fish, so the secret is underground. Rain and snowmelt soak into the cracked volcanic rock of the Snake River Plain and come back out of the Snake River canyon wall as big springs: cold, and at nearly the same temperature all year. That is exactly the kind of water a trout farm needs. It is also the same volcanic plain that makes Idaho America's #1 potato state. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
    🔍 Explore more: 💧『The river that runs underground in Idaho』→
    It's a fish, so… a state on the coast! North Carolina? 🐾

    Compare

    Food-size trout sold (pounds, 2025)

    🇺🇸 United States (national)39,617,000 lb
    Idaho #1 22,200,000 lb
    Most: Idaho (22,200,000 lb); least shown here: Utah (164,000 lb).

    Note: pounds of trout 12 inches or longer sold by fish farms in 2025. 2025, USDA NASS. USDA publishes a separate number for only these six states and reports all the others added together as one “other states” total. Idaho is bigger than that whole combined total, so it really is the national #1 — but the combined total is bigger than the second state here, so the places after Idaho are the order among the states USDA lists, not the national order.

    Cold water, all year round 🐾

    Recap

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    Which state leads in barley? 🥣 →Which state leads in peppermint? 🌿 →Which state leads in potatoes? 🥔 →
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    📋 See the ranking table (top 6)
    Food-size trout sold (pounds, 2025)
    Rank State Value Share of U.S. total
    #1 Idaho 22,200,000 lb 56%
    #2 North Carolina 2,600,000 lb 6.6%
    #3 Pennsylvania 1,420,000 lb 3.6%
    #4 Colorado 502,000 lb 1.3%
    #5 Wisconsin 206,000 lb 0.5%
    #6 Utah 164,000 lb 0.4%
    🇺🇸 USA (total) 39,617,000 lb 100%

    USDA publishes a separate number for only these six states and reports all the others added together as one “other states” total. Idaho is bigger than that whole combined total, so it really is the national #1 — but the combined total is bigger than the second state here, so the places after Idaho are the order among the states USDA lists, not the national order.

    Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2025)

    Sources

    Data as of: 2025
    USDA NASS Quick Stats: FOOD FISH, TROUT, GE 12 INCHES - SALES, MEASURED IN LB, 2025, by state (Trout Production survey) (opens in a new tab) (2026-08-04) — Published estimates only. USDA publishes a separate value for only a few states and reports the remaining ones combined as “other states”, which is not a state and is not ranked here.
    ↳ In Quick Stats, pick FOOD FISH / TROUT, GE 12 INCHES - SALES, MEASURED IN LB, survey data, year 2025, and compare states.