Federal alcohol permits · state ranking

States with the most distilleries

States ranked by the number of TTB-permitted distilled spirits plants (DSPs).

California
#1 state
561
Distilleries
51
States ranked
TTB
Federal source

According to the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) List of Permittees, published April 2025, 83,590 federal alcohol Basic Permits are on file across 52 states and territories, 18,038 wineries, 5,590 distilleries, 21,314 importers, and 38,648 wholesalers. State counts here are tallied directly from that public federal record, not modeled or estimated, and per-capita rates use U.S. Census Bureau Vintage-2023 population. Breweries are excluded: they hold a Brewer's Notice under a separate statute and are not in the TTB list. See the methodology for the calculation.

The ranking in one line

California leads with 561 distilleries, followed by New York (344) and Texas (326).

561
distilleries · California
344
distilleries · New York
326
distilleries · Texas
51
states ranked

Source: TTB FOIA List of Permittees, April 2025.

Top 12 states - distilleries

Bar length = distilleries

distilleries

What this shows California leads the field with 561 distilleries.

Source TTB FOIA List of Permittees As of April 2025

Full ranking

# State DistilleriesWineriesDistilleriesWholesalers
1 California 561 6,399 561 9,309
2 New York 344 843 344 2,699
3 Texas 326 1,009 326 2,124
4 Pennsylvania 320 619 320 1,000
5 Michigan 310 747 310 469
6 Washington 239 1,422 239 1,902
7 Kentucky 198 151 198 428
8 Florida 197 211 197 2,662
9 North Carolina 185 307 185 983
10 Ohio 179 554 179 579
11 Colorado 173 274 173 782
12 Oregon 157 995 157 1,451
13 Virginia 155 637 155 713
14 Georgia 146 204 146 682
15 Tennessee 142 127 142 409
16 Missouri 134 358 134 502
17 Puerto Rico 123 32 123 455
18 Wisconsin 123 251 123 434
19 Indiana 119 174 119 262
20 Illinois 115 204 115 1,136
21 Massachusetts 101 201 101 575
22 Maryland 86 214 86 526
23 Minnesota 82 166 82 319
24 Arizona 71 170 71 389
25 New Jersey 71 104 71 747
26 South Carolina 62 64 62 907
27 Alabama 58 77 58 144
28 Maine 56 89 56 423
29 Iowa 55 182 55 927
30 Louisiana 55 24 55 194
31 New Mexico 55 133 55 158
32 Vermont 53 104 53 135
33 Connecticut 43 113 43 428
34 Kansas 43 86 43 895
35 Montana 42 48 42 128
36 Nevada 40 18 40 406
37 West Virginia 38 46 38 188
38 Idaho 35 125 35 172
39 New Hampshire 34 83 34 82
40 Utah 33 39 33 87
41 Nebraska 32 42 32 86
42 Hawaii 29 23 29 134
43 Oklahoma 25 123 25 123
44 Alaska 24 30 24 73
45 Arkansas 23 46 23 269
46 Rhode Island 21 34 21 134
47 Wyoming 21 19 21 89
48 South Dakota 19 47 19 38
49 District of Columbia 14 11 14 163
50 Mississippi 11 13 11 492
51 Delaware 7 16 7 177

Per-class columns show how each state's permits split across the four federal classes.

Frequently asked questions

What is a distilled spirits plant permit?

A Distilled Spirits Plant (DSP) permit authorizes production of spirits through distillation. It carries stricter federal requirements than other permit classes, including bonded-premises and record-keeping obligations.

How does a distillery differ from a winery permit?

A DSP covers distillation of spirits; a wine premises permit covers wine production. A business that makes both holds both permit types, and each is counted under its own class in this data.

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Sources: TTB FOIA List of Permittees (April 2025), published by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Reformatted without alteration; confirm any record against the official TTB list.

Every figure on PlainAlcohol is rendered directly from federal TTB permit data, no number is typed in by an editor. This ranking is rendered directly from 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.