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
572
Distilleries
51
States ranked
TTB
Federal source

According to the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) List of Permittees, published August 2026, 84,273 federal alcohol Basic Permits are on file across 52 states and territories, 18,120 wineries, 5,670 distilleries, 21,526 importers, and 38,957 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 572 distilleries; the #51 cutoff to make this list is 7 (Delaware).

572
#1 · California
7
#51, the cutoff to make this list
347
#2 · New York
51
states ranked

Source: TTB FOIA List of Permittees, August 2026.

Top 12 states - distilleries

Bar length = distilleries

  1. 1
    California 572 distilleries
  2. 2
    New York 347 distilleries
  3. 3
    Texas 332 distilleries
  4. 4
    Pennsylvania 327 distilleries
  5. 5
    Michigan 318 distilleries
  6. 6
    Washington 239 distilleries
  7. 7
    Kentucky 206 distilleries
  8. 8
    Florida 203 distilleries
  9. 9
    North Carolina 186 distilleries
  10. 10
    Ohio 179 distilleries
  11. 11
    Colorado 175 distilleries
  12. 12
    Virginia 158 distilleries

Source TTB FOIA List of Permittees · August 2026

The bar to make this list

Distilleries across all 51 ranked states

every ranked state, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source TTB FOIA List of Permittees · August 2026

Full ranking

#StateDistilleriesWineriesDistilleriesWholesalers
1California5726,4005729,346
2New York3478543472,724
3Texas3321,0133322,143
4Pennsylvania3276223271,005
5Michigan318754318471
6Washington2391,4302391,909
7Kentucky206151206436
8Florida2032132032,704
9North Carolina186312186988
10Ohio179558179584
11Colorado175275175800
12Virginia158643158718
13Oregon1569951561,461
14Georgia148207148686
15Tennessee144130144413
16Missouri133363133505
17Puerto Rico12532125458
18Wisconsin125253125440
19Indiana120174120262
20Illinois1172041171,154
21Massachusetts102205102581
22Maryland8721987529
23Minnesota8416684322
24New Jersey7310473752
25Arizona7217372394
26South Carolina626562920
27Alabama587658145
28Maine588858424
29Iowa5618256929
30Louisiana562456197
31Vermont5510555137
32New Mexico5513355162
33Connecticut4411444432
34Kansas448744902
35Montana434843128
36Nevada401840413
37West Virginia384738189
38Idaho3512535173
39New Hampshire34853482
40Utah33393388
41Nebraska32423284
42Hawaii302330134
43Alaska24302475
44Arkansas244624270
45Oklahoma2312223125
46Rhode Island213521134
47Wyoming21192191
48South Dakota19471937
49District of Columbia141114164
50Mississippi111311501
51Delaware7167178

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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The TTB Basic Permit process

Sources: TTB FOIA List of Permittees (August 2026), published by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Reformatted without alteration; confirm any record against the official TTB list.

According to the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's List of Permittees, the August 2026 List of Permittees source contains 84,273 federal Basic Permit records. PlainAlcohol renders those records directly from the source; no figure 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, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.