The US states selling the most Tequila and American whiskey
California was the leading market for American whiskey and Tequila volume sales in the US last year, but which states round out the top 10?
Park Street, a digital platform that supports alcohol suppliers in the US, cited data from Beverage Information Group on the 10 biggest states for American whiskey and Tequila.
California was the top-selling state for American whiskey with 3.7 million cases sold last year. Park Street noted that the Los Angeles metropolitan area represented a significant portion of this consumption.
After California, Texas was the second-largest state for the category with nearly 2.4m cases sold.
Other states in the top 10 for American whiskey volume sales were: Florida (2.1m cases), Ohio (1.2m), North Carolina (1.2m), New York (1.1m), Virginia (1.1m), Pennsylvania (1.1m), Michigan (1m) and Kentucky (920,000 cases).
Per capita, Kentucky was the largest state for American whiskey with 272 cases per 1,000 residents.
It was followed by New Hampshire (253 cases per 1,000 people), Wyoming at 197 cases, District of Columbia at 176 cases, and Virginia at 166 cases.
Missouri, Tennessee, Montana, Alaska and Arkansas round out the top 10 per capita rankings.
Park Street said the per capital data showed a “clear preference for American whiskey in the South and on the frontier” led by states such as Kentucky and Tennessee that are historically tied to whiskey production.
In 2024, 30.3m nine-litre cases of American whiskey were sold in the States – an increase of 125.9% since 2003, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (Discus). Year on year, American whiskey volume sales dipped by 2.7%.
Tequila’s top-selling states
Discus noted that agave spirits volumes grew by 2% in 2024 to 32.3m cases, up from 31.6m in the previous year when volumes jumped by 5.7%.
California was by far the leading state for Tequila, selling 6.6m cases in 2024, according to Park Street. It also ranks second nationally in per capita consumption with 225 cases per 1,000 residents.
Park Street said this “dual dominance reflects both the state’s massive population and its deep cultural connection to Mexican cuisine and agave spirits”.
Texas was the second-biggest state for Tequila sales with nearly 3.8m cases consumed in 2024.
In third place was Florida, which sold 1.8m cases, while North Carolina took the fourth spot with more than 1.2m cases.
Illinois secured the fifth position with nearly 1.2m cases in 2024, which Park Street believes is likely concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding regions.
After Illinois came Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and New York, which all recorded 1.1m cases. Colorado concluded the top 10 with 917,000 cases.
The per capita rankings showed Nevada in the top spot with 286 cases per 1,000 residents, followed by California (225 cases per 1,000 residents).
The final eight were: Colorado (205 cases), Arizona (199), Texas (172), New Mexico (160), New Hampshire (156), District of Columbia (150), North Carolina (142) and Michigan (140).
Park Street noted a “clear Western preference” for agave spirits with six of the top 10 states located west of the Mississippi River. The company said this pattern is due to “proximity to Mexico, climate preferences, and regional drinking cultures”.
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