The US State That Produces The Most Chicken
A lot of people are aware of the states that have high fruit and vegetable production; Washington state producing the most apples in the country is a great example. However, most don't realize that there are states known for dairy production, like Wisconsin producing the most cheese or California producing the most butter. There's even states known for producing specific kinds of meat, like poultry.
The United States has a pretty high poultry production, especially when it comes to chicken. There's quite a few states that produce chickens that are eventually used for meat, but one state stands out from the rest. As of 2025, Georgia is the state that produces the most chicken, with 1.3 billion chickens produced this year.
Alabama and Arkansas followed close behind with 1.2 billion and 1.11 billion chickens produced this year, respectively. However, Georgia completely lapped all the other states, which did not even break into the billions this year. As such, there's a pretty good chance any chicken you receive in restaurants or in grocery stores likely come from Georgia.
Chicken production in the United States
Georgia has always ranked pretty high in the poultry industry, previously hitting the No. 1 spot back in 2017 for chicken production. When it wasn't the highest producing state, it always stayed in the top 5; for example, back in 2023, it placed fifth with 31.6 million chickens produced. It is likely that consumers have been eating or buying Georgia-raised chicken for several years now.
This is not to discount the efforts of other states though. In 2023 when Georgia did not rank highest in chicken production, it was Iowa that took the crown. That year, Iowa produced 54.9 million chickens. This is one of the few times that Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas did not take first place.
Most of the time, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas are consistently the top three states with the most chicken production. North Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi also consistently place pretty high, but nowhere nearly as high as their other competitors.