# US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2024

All 50 values come from U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service for 2024, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `milk_cows_inventory`
- Unit: head
- Definition: Cows that have calved and are kept for milk production, on farms on 1 January, in head, as estimated by USDA NASS in its January Cattle report. Dry cows are included; heifers that have not calved are not.
- Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states (https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/)
- Publisher page: https://invokely.ai/en/publishers/usda-nass
- Retrieved: 2026-10-18
- Citation: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states

| Rank | Place | head |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | California | 1,710,000 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 1,270,000 |
| 3 | Idaho | 663,000 |
| 4 | Texas | 635,000 |
| 5 | New York | 630,000 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 465,000 |
| 7 | Minnesota | 450,000 |
| 8 | Michigan | 439,000 |
| 9 | Washington | 257,000 |
| 10 | Ohio | 255,000 |
| 11 | New Mexico | 250,000 |
| 12 | Iowa | 240,000 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 210,000 |
| 14 | Arizona | 197,000 |
| 14 | Colorado | 197,000 |
| 16 | Indiana | 190,000 |
| 17 | Kansas | 175,000 |
| 18 | Oregon | 120,000 |
| 19 | Vermont | 116,000 |
| 20 | Florida | 98,000 |
| 21 | Utah | 89,000 |
| 22 | Georgia | 88,000 |
| 23 | Illinois | 79,000 |
| 24 | Virginia | 66,000 |
| 25 | Missouri | 60,000 |
| 26 | Nebraska | 53,000 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 43,000 |
| 28 | Maryland | 40,000 |
| 29 | North Carolina | 38,000 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 38,000 |
| 31 | Nevada | 35,000 |
| 32 | Tennessee | 25,000 |
| 33 | Maine | 24,000 |
| 34 | Connecticut | 17,500 |
| 35 | North Dakota | 10,000 |
| 36 | New Hampshire | 9,500 |
| 37 | Massachusetts | 9,000 |
| 37 | Montana | 9,000 |
| 37 | Wyoming | 9,000 |
| 40 | South Carolina | 8,000 |
| 41 | Louisiana | 7,000 |
| 42 | Mississippi | 6,000 |
| 43 | New Jersey | 4,000 |
| 43 | West Virginia | 4,000 |
| 45 | Arkansas | 3,000 |
| 46 | Delaware | 2,600 |
| 47 | Alabama | 2,000 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 500 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 500 |
| 50 | Alaska | 200 |