Top U.S. states cheese production 2023 | Statista (2024)

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Top U.S. states cheese production 2023 | Statista? ›

Wisconsin is the # 1 cheese-producing state, making 26% of the country's cheese. Wisconsin cheesemakers use about 90% of Wisconsin's milk supply to make more than 2 billion pounds of cheese every year.

Wisconsin is the # 1 cheese-producing state, making 26% of the country's cheese. Wisconsin cheesemakers use about 90% of Wisconsin's milk supply to make more than 2 billion pounds of cheese every year.

Wisconsin is the largest producer, representing more than 25 percent of domestic production, Northeastern States, California and the Northwest (Washington and Idaho), finally, in the South, Texas and New Mexico, with the brand new Clovis site, North America's largest cheddar cheese production plant.

The cumulative 12-month cheese production total for 2023 was 14.106 billion pounds, up 0.3% from the 2022 year-end total of 14.063 billion pounds.

FACT: If the state of Wisconsin were a country, it would rank fourth in the world in total cheese production at 2.86 billion lbs./year, behind the entire US, Germany, and France, and just ahead of Italy.

Plymouth, Wisconsin is known as the Cheese Capital of the World because it produces about 14 percent of the cheese consumed in the United States. “This is what we're about cheese," Jenna Schram, the store manager at the Cheese Counter and Dairy Heritage Center in Plymouth said.

Wisconsin. Often dubbed "America's Dairyland," Wisconsin produces an astonishing amount of cheese each year, earning it a spot in the top ranking of cheese-producing regions in the world.

Wisconsin's nickname as “America's Dairyland” punctuates the state's leading position within the U.S. dairy industry. More than three and a half billion pounds of cheese are produced in Wisconsin. California is the second largest producer.

Wisconsin Cheese Export

Together we can help share the World's Most Awarded Cheese across the globe and showcase why Wisconsin is the State of Cheese.

No, it isn't money but actually cheese, 1.4 billion pounds of it to be exact, stored in a cave in Missouri. You may wonder why the government has a massive cheese stockpile.

Why is Wisconsin the cheese state? ›

Wisconsin's cheesemaking tradition dates back to the 19th century. European immigrants who settled in Wisconsin were drawn to its fertile fields. Wisconsin leads the nation in number of dairy plants. Soon, dairy farms sprang up around Wisconsin, and farmers began producing cheese to preserve excess milk.

America produces the most cheese in the world (over 11 billion pounds annually), more than double the next closest country, Germany (5 billion pounds annually).

With 25 percent of the nation's total cheese production, Wisconsin maintained its ranking as the nation's top cheese-producing state in 2023.

France: This country is world-renowned for its wide variety of cheeses, many of which have Protected Designation of Origin (AOC). Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie, Roquefort, Comté… are some of the best known names.

Now, Wisconsin is the #1 cheese-producing state, followed by California. (Originally, New York and Ohio were the largest producers.) 1903: James Kraft invented “American Cheese,” which was processed in order to increase product safety and consistency.

More than a century ago, Wisconsin's growing dairy industry attracted immigrant cheese makers from Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Italy and Scandinavia who applied their Old World cheese making skills to the plentiful supply of wholesome milk. By the 1920s there were over 2800 cheese factories in Wisconsin.

If Wisconsin were a country, it would be the the fourth-largest producer of cheese in the world. Wisconsin produced more than 3.5 billion pounds of cheese in 2022 — a quarter of the nation's total cheese production, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.