Data / Rankings / Milk cows on 1 January / US states

US states by milk cows on 1 January

California had the highest milk cows on 1 January of 50 states in 2013, at 1,780,000 head. Alaska had the lowest, at 400 head. The median was 76,000 head and the figure for the United States was 9,221,200 head. Source: the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

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Highest1,780,000California
Lowest400Alaska
Median76,00050 states
United States9,221,200History

Map of states, 2013

Alabama: 9,000 headAlaska: 400 headArizona: 190,000 headArkansas: 9,000 headCalifornia: 1,780,000 headColorado: 132,000 headConnecticut: 18,000 headDelaware: 4,500 headFlorida: 123,000 headGeorgia: 80,000 headHawaii: 2,200 headIdaho: 580,000 headIllinois: 98,000 headIndiana: 174,000 headIowa: 205,000 headKansas: 132,000 headKentucky: 72,000 headLouisiana: 16,000 headMaine: 32,000 headMaryland: 51,000 headMassachusetts: 12,500 headMichigan: 377,000 headMinnesota: 465,000 headMississippi: 14,000 headMissouri: 93,000 headMontana: 14,000 headNebraska: 55,000 headNevada: 29,000 headNew Hampshire: 13,500 headNew Jersey: 7,000 headNew Mexico: 320,000 headNew York: 610,000 headNorth Carolina: 46,000 headNorth Dakota: 18,000 headOhio: 270,000 headOklahoma: 46,000 headOregon: 123,000 headPennsylvania: 535,000 headRhode Island: 1,100 headSouth Carolina: 16,000 headSouth Dakota: 92,000 headTennessee: 48,000 headTexas: 435,000 headUtah: 95,000 headVermont: 134,000 headVirginia: 94,000 headWashington: 264,000 headWest Virginia: 10,000 headWisconsin: 1,270,000 headWyoming: 6,000 head
  • Under 10K
  • 10K to 20K
  • 20K to 80K
  • 80K to 130K
  • 130K to 310K
  • 310K and over
  • No data
head, 2013. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: USDA NASS, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2013

California: 1,780,000 headCalifornia1,780,000Wisconsin: 1,270,000 headWisconsin1,270,000New York: 610,000 headNew York610,000Idaho: 580,000 headIdaho580,000Pennsylvania: 535,000 headPennsylvania535,000Minnesota: 465,000 headMinnesota465,000Texas: 435,000 headTexas435,000Michigan: 377,000 headMichigan377,000New Mexico: 320,000 headNew Mexico320,000Ohio: 270,000 headOhio270,000Washington: 264,000 headWashington264,000Iowa: 205,000 headIowa205,000Arizona: 190,000 headArizona190,000Indiana: 174,000 headIndiana174,000Vermont: 134,000 headVermont134,000Colorado: 132,000 headColorado132,000Kansas: 132,000 headKansas132,000Florida: 123,000 headFlorida123,000Oregon: 123,000 headOregon123,000Illinois: 98,000 headIllinois98,000Utah: 95,000 headUtah95,000Virginia: 94,000 headVirginia94,000Missouri: 93,000 headMissouri93,000South Dakota: 92,000 headSouth Dakota92,000Georgia: 80,000 headGeorgia80,000Kentucky: 72,000 headKentucky72,000Nebraska: 55,000 headNebraska55,000Maryland: 51,000 headMaryland51,000Tennessee: 48,000 headTennessee48,000North Carolina: 46,000 headNorth Carolina46,000Oklahoma: 46,000 headOklahoma46,000Maine: 32,000 headMaine32,000Nevada: 29,000 headNevada29,000Connecticut: 18,000 headConnecticut18,000North Dakota: 18,000 headNorth Dakota18,000Louisiana: 16,000 headLouisiana16,000South Carolina: 16,000 headSouth Carolina16,000Mississippi: 14,000 headMississippi14,000Montana: 14,000 headMontana14,000New Hampshire: 13,500 headNew Hampshire13,500Massachusetts: 12,500 headMassachusetts12,500West Virginia: 10,000 headWest Virginia10,000Alabama: 9,000 headAlabama9,000Arkansas: 9,000 headArkansas9,000New Jersey: 7,000 headNew Jersey7,000Wyoming: 6,000 headWyoming6,000Delaware: 4,500 headDelaware4,500Hawaii: 2,200 headHawaii2,200Rhode Island: 1,100 headRhode Island1,100Alaska: 400 headAlaska400California: 1,780,000 headCalifornia1,780,000Wisconsin: 1,270,000 headWisconsin1,270,000New York: 610,000 headNew York610,000Idaho: 580,000 headIdaho580,000Pennsylvania: 535,000 headPennsylvania535,000Minnesota: 465,000 headMinnesota465,000Texas: 435,000 headTexas435,000Michigan: 377,000 headMichigan377,000New Mexico: 320,000 headNew Mexico320,000Ohio: 270,000 headOhio270,000Washington: 264,000 headWashington264,000Iowa: 205,000 headIowa205,000Arizona: 190,000 headArizona190,000Indiana: 174,000 headIndiana174,000Vermont: 134,000 headVermont134,000Colorado: 132,000 headColorado132,000Kansas: 132,000 headKansas132,000Florida: 123,000 headFlorida123,000Oregon: 123,000 headOregon123,000Illinois: 98,000 headIllinois98,000Utah: 95,000 headUtah95,000Virginia: 94,000 headVirginia94,000Missouri: 93,000 headMissouri93,000South Dakota: 92,000 headSouth Dakota92,000Georgia: 80,000 headGeorgia80,000Kentucky: 72,000 headKentucky72,000Nebraska: 55,000 headNebraska55,000Maryland: 51,000 headMaryland51,000Tennessee: 48,000 headTennessee48,000North Carolina: 46,000 headNorth Carolina46,000Oklahoma: 46,000 headOklahoma46,000Maine: 32,000 headMaine32,000Nevada: 29,000 headNevada29,000Connecticut: 18,000 headConnecticut18,000North Dakota: 18,000 headNorth Dakota18,000Louisiana: 16,000 headLouisiana16,000South Carolina: 16,000 headSouth Carolina16,000Mississippi: 14,000 headMississippi14,000Montana: 14,000 headMontana14,000New Hampshire: 13,500 headNew Hampshire13,500Massachusetts: 12,500 headMassachusetts12,500West Virginia: 10,000 headWest Virginia10,000Alabama: 9,000 headAlabama9,000Arkansas: 9,000 headArkansas9,000New Jersey: 7,000 headNew Jersey7,000Wyoming: 6,000 headWyoming6,000Delaware: 4,500 headDelaware4,500Hawaii: 2,200 headHawaii2,200Rhode Island: 1,100 headRhode Island1,100Alaska: 400 headAlaska400
head. Source: USDA NASS, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

RankStates2013
head		Change on 2012
1California1,780,0000%
2Wisconsin1,270,000+0.4%
3New York610,0000%
4Idaho580,000-0.2%
5Pennsylvania535,000-0.9%
6Minnesota465,0000%
7Texas435,0000%
8Michigan377,000+1.6%
9New Mexico320,000-4.5%
10Ohio270,0000%
11Washington264,000+0.4%
12Iowa205,0000%
13Arizona190,0000%
14Indiana174,000-0.6%
15Vermont134,000+0.8%
16Colorado132,000+0.8%
16Kansas132,000+7.3%
18Florida123,000+2.5%
18Oregon123,0000%
20Illinois98,000-1%
21Utah95,000-1%
22Virginia94,000-2.1%
23Missouri93,0000%
24South Dakota92,000+2.2%
25Georgia80,000+2.6%
26Kentucky72,000-4%
27Nebraska55,000-1.8%
28Maryland51,000-1.9%
29Tennessee48,000-4%
30North Carolina46,000+2.2%
30Oklahoma46,000-11.5%
32Maine32,0000%
33Nevada29,0000%
34Connecticut18,000-2.7%
34North Dakota18,0000%
36Louisiana16,000-11.1%
36South Carolina16,0000%
38Mississippi14,0000%
38Montana14,0000%
40New Hampshire13,500-3.6%
41Massachusetts12,500+4.2%
42West Virginia10,0000%
43Alabama9,000-10%
43Arkansas9,000-18.2%
45New Jersey7,000-6.7%
46Wyoming6,0000%
47Delaware4,500-10%
48Hawaii2,200+15.8%
49Rhode Island1,1000%
50Alaska400-20%

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

NASS also publishes an annual average number of milk cows with its milk production estimates; this series is the 1 January count. USDA NASS survey estimates for the nation and the states; the District of Columbia is not covered, and states that NASS groups as "other states" to avoid disclosing single operations have no value for that year. NASS revises recent years when it publishes later reports, and values it withholds are left out.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

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.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2026). Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states (US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/

MLA 9

Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states, US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2026. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013.

Harvard

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (2026) Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states, US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{department_us_states_by_milk_2013,
  author = {{U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service}},
  title = {{Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states: US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013. Publisher attribution: 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.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
TI  - Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states: US states by milk cows on 1 January, 2013
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/30
PB  - U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2013.
N1  - Publisher attribution: 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.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest milk cows on 1 January?

California, with 1,780,000 head in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Which state has the lowest milk cows on 1 January?

Alaska, with 400 head in 2013.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

US states: more rankings