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

# State DistilleriesWineriesDistilleriesWholesalers
1 California 572 6,400 572 9,346
2 New York 347 854 347 2,724
3 Texas 332 1,013 332 2,143
4 Pennsylvania 327 622 327 1,005
5 Michigan 318 754 318 471
6 Washington 239 1,430 239 1,909
7 Kentucky 206 151 206 436
8 Florida 203 213 203 2,704
9 North Carolina 186 312 186 988
10 Ohio 179 558 179 584
11 Colorado 175 275 175 800
12 Virginia 158 643 158 718
13 Oregon 156 995 156 1,461
14 Georgia 148 207 148 686
15 Tennessee 144 130 144 413
16 Missouri 133 363 133 505
17 Puerto Rico 125 32 125 458
18 Wisconsin 125 253 125 440
19 Indiana 120 174 120 262
20 Illinois 117 204 117 1,154
21 Massachusetts 102 205 102 581
22 Maryland 87 219 87 529
23 Minnesota 84 166 84 322
24 New Jersey 73 104 73 752
25 Arizona 72 173 72 394
26 South Carolina 62 65 62 920
27 Alabama 58 76 58 145
28 Maine 58 88 58 424
29 Iowa 56 182 56 929
30 Louisiana 56 24 56 197
31 Vermont 55 105 55 137
32 New Mexico 55 133 55 162
33 Connecticut 44 114 44 432
34 Kansas 44 87 44 902
35 Montana 43 48 43 128
36 Nevada 40 18 40 413
37 West Virginia 38 47 38 189
38 Idaho 35 125 35 173
39 New Hampshire 34 85 34 82
40 Utah 33 39 33 88
41 Nebraska 32 42 32 84
42 Hawaii 30 23 30 134
43 Alaska 24 30 24 75
44 Arkansas 24 46 24 270
45 Oklahoma 23 122 23 125
46 Rhode Island 21 35 21 134
47 Wyoming 21 19 21 91
48 South Dakota 19 47 19 37
49 District of Columbia 14 11 14 164
50 Mississippi 11 13 11 501
51 Delaware 7 16 7 178

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

What to do with this state ranking

A rank only matters next to the state itself, or a different cut of the same federal data.

TTB FOIA List of Permittees, published August 2026.

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.