States with the Most Alcohol Producers

How to Read the States with the Most Alcohol Producers

This ranking covers 51 states scored by total producers. The leader is California at 2,054, with Washington (902) in second place and Oregon (785) in third. Every number comes from the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) federal permittee database — the same source the federal government uses to track alcohol producers, importers, and wholesalers. The registry is released publicly under FOIA and refreshed as permits are issued, amended, or surrendered.

Raw totals surface the largest state beverage economies but mask very different structures. California, Washington, and New York combine all five permit classes. Other high-ranking states (Kentucky for distilleries, Colorado for breweries) concentrate heavily in a single category. Reading raw totals alongside per-capita rankings gives the clearest picture of how deeply beverage production is embedded in a state relative to its population.

Federal permit counts are not a direct proxy for alcohol consumption, economic output, or public-health risk. State-level ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) rules govern retail access, distribution, and excise tax — all of which shape actual market conditions. NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) tracks per-capita drinking and alcohol-related outcomes separately; a state can rank high in producer counts and low in drinking rates, or vice versa. Use this ranking to understand where federally licensed production lives, then layer state ABC and NIAAA data on top for the full picture. Source: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Federal Permit Registry.