Where milk cows are kept: the leading US counties
2022 Census of Agriculture · Head on farms on December 31, 2022. Counties with a published figure: 1,510
US farms had 9,309,855 milk cows at the end of 2022; Tulare County, California, had the most of any county with a published figure.
The ten leading counties hold 20.0% of the national total. California is the leading state, ahead of Wisconsin.
The national figure is down 2.4% on the 2017 census.
The 25 leading counties
Ranked among the 1,510 counties with a published figure. Another 841 counties grow or keep some but have their figure withheld to protect individual farms, so they are not ranked.
| # | County | State | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tulare County | California | 480,992 | 5.2% |
| 2 | Merced County | California | 288,973 | 3.1% |
| 3 | Gooding County | Idaho | 165,205 | 1.8% |
| 4 | Stanislaus County | California | 153,912 | 1.7% |
| 5 | Kings County | California | 150,643 | 1.6% |
| 6 | Weld County | Colorado | 134,728 | 1.4% |
| 7 | San Joaquin County | California | 133,512 | 1.4% |
| 8 | Kern County | California | 129,250 | 1.4% |
| 9 | Fresno County | California | 111,876 | 1.2% |
| 10 | Twin Falls County | Idaho | 108,379 | 1.2% |
| 11 | Jerome County | Idaho | 103,043 | 1.1% |
| 12 | Maricopa County | Arizona | 102,800 | 1.1% |
| 13 | Yakima County | Washington | 100,591 | 1.1% |
| 14 | Hartley County | Texas | 92,475 | 0.99% |
| 15 | Curry County | New Mexico | 78,369 | 0.84% |
| 16 | Madera County | California | 78,262 | 0.84% |
| 17 | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | 76,021 | 0.82% |
| 18 | Cassia County | Idaho | 71,293 | 0.77% |
| 19 | Castro County | Texas | 68,107 | 0.73% |
| 20 | Clark County | Wisconsin | 66,631 | 0.72% |
| 21 | Marathon County | Wisconsin | 65,598 | 0.70% |
| 22 | Chaves County | New Mexico | 60,562 | 0.65% |
| 23 | Roosevelt County | New Mexico | 59,685 | 0.64% |
| 24 | Manitowoc County | Wisconsin | 59,200 | 0.64% |
| 25 | Fond du Lac County | Wisconsin | 59,158 | 0.64% |
Leading states
| State | Head | Share of US | Since 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1,688,202 | 18.1% | −3.5% |
| Wisconsin | 1,264,272 | 13.6% | −1.3% |
| Idaho | 664,479 | 7.1% | +10.0% |
| Texas | 639,506 | 6.9% | +20.2% |
| New York | 631,199 | 6.8% | +0.5% |
| Minnesota | 459,536 | 4.9% | +0.4% |
| Pennsylvania | 455,651 | 4.9% | −13.6% |
| Michigan | 436,254 | 4.7% | −1.3% |
| New Mexico | 281,569 | 3.0% | −16.7% |
| Washington | 255,872 | 2.7% | −7.6% |
| Ohio | 247,743 | 2.7% | −7.9% |
| Iowa | 238,087 | 2.6% | +6.5% |
| Colorado | 201,750 | 2.2% | +19.1% |
| Arizona | 199,188 | 2.1% | −6.0% |
| South Dakota | 188,382 | 2.0% | +48.0% |
Source: USDA NASS, 2022 and 2017 Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.