Federal alcohol permits · state ranking

States with the most alcohol wholesalers

States ranked by the number of TTB-permitted alcohol wholesalers (distributors).

California
#1 state
9,309
Wholesalers
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 9,309 wholesalers, followed by New York (2,699) and Florida (2,662).

9,309
wholesalers · California
2,699
wholesalers · New York
2,662
wholesalers · Florida
51
states ranked

Source: TTB FOIA List of Permittees, April 2025.

Top 12 states - wholesalers

Bar length = wholesalers

wholesalers

What this shows California leads the field with 9,309 wholesalers.

Source TTB FOIA List of Permittees As of April 2025

Full ranking

# State WholesalersWineriesDistilleriesWholesalers
1 California 9,309 6,399 561 9,309
2 New York 2,699 843 344 2,699
3 Florida 2,662 211 197 2,662
4 Texas 2,124 1,009 326 2,124
5 Washington 1,902 1,422 239 1,902
6 Oregon 1,451 995 157 1,451
7 Illinois 1,136 204 115 1,136
8 Pennsylvania 1,000 619 320 1,000
9 North Carolina 983 307 185 983
10 Iowa 927 182 55 927
11 South Carolina 907 64 62 907
12 Kansas 895 86 43 895
13 Colorado 782 274 173 782
14 New Jersey 747 104 71 747
15 Virginia 713 637 155 713
16 Georgia 682 204 146 682
17 Ohio 579 554 179 579
18 Massachusetts 575 201 101 575
19 Maryland 526 214 86 526
20 Missouri 502 358 134 502
21 Mississippi 492 13 11 492
22 Michigan 469 747 310 469
23 Puerto Rico 455 32 123 455
24 Wisconsin 434 251 123 434
25 Connecticut 428 113 43 428
26 Kentucky 428 151 198 428
27 Maine 423 89 56 423
28 Tennessee 409 127 142 409
29 Nevada 406 18 40 406
30 Arizona 389 170 71 389
31 Minnesota 319 166 82 319
32 Arkansas 269 46 23 269
33 Indiana 262 174 119 262
34 Louisiana 194 24 55 194
35 West Virginia 188 46 38 188
36 Delaware 177 16 7 177
37 Idaho 172 125 35 172
38 District of Columbia 163 11 14 163
39 New Mexico 158 133 55 158
40 Alabama 144 77 58 144
41 Vermont 135 104 53 135
42 Hawaii 134 23 29 134
43 Rhode Island 134 34 21 134
44 Montana 128 48 42 128
45 Oklahoma 123 123 25 123
46 Wyoming 89 19 21 89
47 Utah 87 39 33 87
48 Nebraska 86 42 32 86
49 New Hampshire 82 83 34 82
50 Alaska 73 30 24 73
51 North Dakota 59 30 5 59

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

Frequently asked questions

Why is the wholesaler class the largest?

Under the post-Prohibition three-tier system, producers generally sell to retailers through a licensed wholesaler rather than directly. Every state needs its own distribution layer, so wholesalers are the most numerous federal permit class.

What does a wholesaler permit authorize?

It authorizes a business to distribute beverage alcohol to retailers within the federal three-tier framework. State distribution rules layer on top of the federal permit and vary by state.

Explore more rankings

most federal alcohol permits → Per capita → most wineries → most distilleries → most alcohol importers → alcohol permits →
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Methodology
How the data is sourced
Permit guide
The TTB Basic Permit process

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.