Total number of cattle and calves in the U.S. 2001-2020

How many cows are in the U.S.?

The United States is home to approximately 94.4 million cattle and calves as of 2020, a decrease from 94.8 million cattle and calves in 2019.
Cattle farming in the United States

There are over three times more beef cows than milk cows living in the United States. Raising cattle is notoriously expensive, not only in terms of land, feed, and equipment, but also in terms of the environmental impact of consuming beef. Beef and milk have the highest carbon footprints of any type of food in the United States.

U.S. milk market

The volume of milk produced in the United States has been steadily increasing over the last several years. In 2019, total milk production in the U.S. was about 218.3 billion pounds, up from 192.9 billion pounds in 2010. California is the leading producer of milk of any U.S. state, generating approximately 40 billion pounds of milk in 2018. Wisconsin came in second, producing about 30 billion pounds of milk in that year.