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 2020, at 1,725,000 head. Alaska had the lowest, at 300 head. The median was 66,000 head and the figure for the United States was 9,343,600 head. Source: the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

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Highest1,725,000California
Lowest300Alaska
Median66,00050 states
United States9,343,600History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 4,000 headAlaska: 300 headArizona: 196,000 headArkansas: 5,000 headCalifornia: 1,725,000 headColorado: 189,000 headConnecticut: 19,500 headDelaware: 3,800 headFlorida: 116,000 headGeorgia: 81,000 headHawaii: 700 headIdaho: 640,000 headIllinois: 82,000 headIndiana: 176,000 headIowa: 215,000 headKansas: 167,000 headKentucky: 49,000 headLouisiana: 10,000 headMaine: 28,000 headMaryland: 42,000 headMassachusetts: 10,000 headMichigan: 427,000 headMinnesota: 445,000 headMississippi: 8,000 headMissouri: 77,000 headMontana: 12,000 headNebraska: 58,000 headNevada: 32,000 headNew Hampshire: 11,000 headNew Jersey: 4,700 headNew Mexico: 330,000 headNew York: 625,000 headNorth Carolina: 41,000 headNorth Dakota: 15,000 headOhio: 252,000 headOklahoma: 41,000 headOregon: 127,000 headPennsylvania: 480,000 headRhode Island: 600 headSouth Carolina: 11,000 headSouth Dakota: 127,000 headTennessee: 31,000 headTexas: 580,000 headUtah: 97,000 headVermont: 124,000 headVirginia: 74,000 headWashington: 282,000 headWest Virginia: 6,000 headWisconsin: 1,260,000 headWyoming: 6,000 head
  • Under 10K
  • 10K to 20K
  • 20K to 70K
  • 70K to 130K
  • 130K to 320K
  • 320K and over
  • No data
head, 2020. 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, 2020

California: 1,725,000 headCalifornia1,725,000Wisconsin: 1,260,000 headWisconsin1,260,000Idaho: 640,000 headIdaho640,000New York: 625,000 headNew York625,000Texas: 580,000 headTexas580,000Pennsylvania: 480,000 headPennsylvania480,000Minnesota: 445,000 headMinnesota445,000Michigan: 427,000 headMichigan427,000New Mexico: 330,000 headNew Mexico330,000Washington: 282,000 headWashington282,000Ohio: 252,000 headOhio252,000Iowa: 215,000 headIowa215,000Arizona: 196,000 headArizona196,000Colorado: 189,000 headColorado189,000Indiana: 176,000 headIndiana176,000Kansas: 167,000 headKansas167,000Oregon: 127,000 headOregon127,000South Dakota: 127,000 headSouth Dakota127,000Vermont: 124,000 headVermont124,000Florida: 116,000 headFlorida116,000Utah: 97,000 headUtah97,000Illinois: 82,000 headIllinois82,000Georgia: 81,000 headGeorgia81,000Missouri: 77,000 headMissouri77,000Virginia: 74,000 headVirginia74,000Nebraska: 58,000 headNebraska58,000Kentucky: 49,000 headKentucky49,000Maryland: 42,000 headMaryland42,000North Carolina: 41,000 headNorth Carolina41,000Oklahoma: 41,000 headOklahoma41,000Nevada: 32,000 headNevada32,000Tennessee: 31,000 headTennessee31,000Maine: 28,000 headMaine28,000Connecticut: 19,500 headConnecticut19,500North Dakota: 15,000 headNorth Dakota15,000Montana: 12,000 headMontana12,000New Hampshire: 11,000 headNew Hampshire11,000South Carolina: 11,000 headSouth Carolina11,000Louisiana: 10,000 headLouisiana10,000Massachusetts: 10,000 headMassachusetts10,000Mississippi: 8,000 headMississippi8,000West Virginia: 6,000 headWest Virginia6,000Wyoming: 6,000 headWyoming6,000Arkansas: 5,000 headArkansas5,000New Jersey: 4,700 headNew Jersey4,700Alabama: 4,000 headAlabama4,000Delaware: 3,800 headDelaware3,800Hawaii: 700 headHawaii700Rhode Island: 600 headRhode Island600Alaska: 300 headAlaska300California: 1,725,000 headCalifornia1,725,000Wisconsin: 1,260,000 headWisconsin1,260,000Idaho: 640,000 headIdaho640,000New York: 625,000 headNew York625,000Texas: 580,000 headTexas580,000Pennsylvania: 480,000 headPennsylvania480,000Minnesota: 445,000 headMinnesota445,000Michigan: 427,000 headMichigan427,000New Mexico: 330,000 headNew Mexico330,000Washington: 282,000 headWashington282,000Ohio: 252,000 headOhio252,000Iowa: 215,000 headIowa215,000Arizona: 196,000 headArizona196,000Colorado: 189,000 headColorado189,000Indiana: 176,000 headIndiana176,000Kansas: 167,000 headKansas167,000Oregon: 127,000 headOregon127,000South Dakota: 127,000 headSouth Dakota127,000Vermont: 124,000 headVermont124,000Florida: 116,000 headFlorida116,000Utah: 97,000 headUtah97,000Illinois: 82,000 headIllinois82,000Georgia: 81,000 headGeorgia81,000Missouri: 77,000 headMissouri77,000Virginia: 74,000 headVirginia74,000Nebraska: 58,000 headNebraska58,000Kentucky: 49,000 headKentucky49,000Maryland: 42,000 headMaryland42,000North Carolina: 41,000 headNorth Carolina41,000Oklahoma: 41,000 headOklahoma41,000Nevada: 32,000 headNevada32,000Tennessee: 31,000 headTennessee31,000Maine: 28,000 headMaine28,000Connecticut: 19,500 headConnecticut19,500North Dakota: 15,000 headNorth Dakota15,000Montana: 12,000 headMontana12,000New Hampshire: 11,000 headNew Hampshire11,000South Carolina: 11,000 headSouth Carolina11,000Louisiana: 10,000 headLouisiana10,000Massachusetts: 10,000 headMassachusetts10,000Mississippi: 8,000 headMississippi8,000West Virginia: 6,000 headWest Virginia6,000Wyoming: 6,000 headWyoming6,000Arkansas: 5,000 headArkansas5,000New Jersey: 4,700 headNew Jersey4,700Alabama: 4,000 headAlabama4,000Delaware: 3,800 headDelaware3,800Hawaii: 700 headHawaii700Rhode Island: 600 headRhode Island600Alaska: 300 headAlaska300
head. Source: USDA NASS, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

RankStates2020
head		Change on 2019
1California1,725,000-0.3%
2Wisconsin1,260,000-0.8%
3Idaho640,000+4.2%
4New York625,0000%
5Texas580,000+6.4%
6Pennsylvania480,000-5%
7Minnesota445,000-1.1%
8Michigan427,000+1.2%
9New Mexico330,000+1.5%
10Washington282,000+0.7%
11Ohio252,000-0.4%
12Iowa215,000-2.3%
13Arizona196,000-4.4%
14Colorado189,000+6.2%
15Indiana176,000-2.8%
16Kansas167,000+3.7%
17Oregon127,000+1.6%
17South Dakota127,000+4.1%
19Vermont124,000-1.6%
20Florida116,0000%
21Utah97,000-3%
22Illinois82,000-3.5%
23Georgia81,0000%
24Missouri77,000-4.9%
25Virginia74,000-6.3%
26Nebraska58,000-1.7%
27Kentucky49,000-7.5%
28Maryland42,000-4.5%
29North Carolina41,000-4.7%
29Oklahoma41,000+2.5%
31Nevada32,000-3%
32Tennessee31,000-13.9%
33Maine28,000-3.4%
34Connecticut19,5000%
35North Dakota15,0000%
36Montana12,0000%
37New Hampshire11,000-8.3%
37South Carolina11,000-21.4%
39Louisiana10,000-9.1%
39Massachusetts10,000-4.8%
41Mississippi8,0000%
42West Virginia6,000-14.3%
42Wyoming6,0000%
44Arkansas5,0000%
45New Jersey4,700-14.5%
46Alabama4,000-20%
47Delaware3,800-15.6%
48Hawaii700-53.3%
49Rhode Island600-14.3%
50Alaska300+50%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{department_us_states_by_milk_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/milk-cows/us-states?period=2020.
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 1,725,000 head in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Which state has the lowest milk cows on 1 January?

Alaska, with 300 head in 2020.

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.

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