U.S. Distilleries by the Numbers
The TTB registry holds 5,590 active distilled spirits plant permits. Here is how they are distributed.
5,590 distilled spirits plants
A distillery that produces spirits commercially holds a Distilled Spirits Plant (DSP) permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The federal List of Permittees records 5,590 active DSP permits nationwide. That makes distilleries the smallest of the four permit classes the TTB publishes, wineries (18,038), importers (21,314), and wholesalers (38,648) each outnumber them.
This guide describes what the permit registry actually contains: a point-in-time count of active permits. It is a measure of how many distilleries are federally licensed today, not a year-by-year growth series, the registry does not carry permit issue dates, so it cannot show a trend over time.
Where distilleries cluster
The DSP count is led by large, established states rather than the bourbon heartland alone. California has the most distilleries on file, followed by New York and Texas:
| State | Distilleries (DSP permits) |
|---|---|
| California | 561 |
| New York | 344 |
| Texas | 326 |
| Pennsylvania | 320 |
| Michigan | 310 |
| Washington | 239 |
| Kentucky | 198 |
| Florida | 197 |
DSP permit counts from the TTB List of Permittees (published April 2025).
What the count tells you, and what it doesn't
What it tells you: The number of DSP permits in a state reflects how many businesses are federally licensed to distill there. States with deep counts have the regulatory framework, raw-material base, and tasting-room rules that let small operators coexist with larger ones.
What it doesn't tell you: A permit count says nothing about production volume. One large distillery can out-produce dozens of small ones, and the registry does not include output figures. It also does not distinguish "craft" from industrial scale, the TTB issues the same DSP permit class to both. A handful of large operators in Kentucky and Tennessee account for the bulk of American whiskey by volume, even though those states do not top the permit count.
Why distilleries are the smallest class
Spirits carry the highest alcohol content and historically the heaviest regulation. For decades, state law in most places assumed distilleries would be large industrial operations selling only through distributors, and on-site tasting rooms were a legal gray area. As states added craft-distillery license tiers and tasting-room rights over the past decade or so, the federal DSP count grew, but it still sits well below the winery, importer, and wholesaler classes.
Frequently asked questions
How many distilleries are there in the U.S.?
The TTB List of Permittees records 5,590 active distilled spirits plant (DSP) permits. That is the count of federally licensed distilleries, not an estimate of production or revenue.
Which state has the most distilleries?
By permit count, California leads with 561 DSP permits, followed by New York (344) and Texas (326). Kentucky, the traditional bourbon heartland, ranks lower by count (198) but leads the country by production volume, a distinction the permit registry cannot show.
Does this show distillery growth over time?
No. The registry is a point-in-time snapshot of active permits and does not carry permit issue dates, so it cannot be used to chart year-over-year growth. It shows how many distilleries are licensed now, not how the count changed.
Where does this data come from?
All counts come from the TTB "List of Permittees," the public federal registry of active FAA Basic Permits and DSP permits (published April 2025, public domain). No proprietary aggregators are used.
Every figure on PlainAlcohol is rendered directly from federal TTB permit data, no number is typed in by an editor. This guide draws directly on the TTB List of Permittees, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.