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
9,346
Wholesalers
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 9,346 wholesalers; the #51 cutoff to make this list is 58 (North Dakota).

9,346
#1 · California
58
#51, the cutoff to make this list
2,724
#2 · New York
51
states ranked

Source: TTB FOIA List of Permittees, August 2026.

Top 12 states - wholesalers

Bar length = wholesalers

  1. 1
    California 9,346 wholesalers
  2. 2
    New York 2,724 wholesalers
  3. 3
    Florida 2,704 wholesalers
  4. 4
    Texas 2,143 wholesalers
  5. 5
    Washington 1,909 wholesalers
  6. 6
    Oregon 1,461 wholesalers
  7. 7
    Illinois 1,154 wholesalers
  8. 8
    Pennsylvania 1,005 wholesalers
  9. 9
    North Carolina 988 wholesalers
  10. 10
    Iowa 929 wholesalers
  11. 11
    South Carolina 920 wholesalers
  12. 12
    Kansas 902 wholesalers

Source TTB FOIA List of Permittees · August 2026

The bar to make this list

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

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

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

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Methodology
How the data is sourced
Permit guide
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.