Top U.S. states based on number of laying hens 2023

The U.S. state with the highest number of laying hens in 2023 was Iowa with approximately 44.4 million head of chicken. The United States is also the fourth leading producer of eggs worldwide.

Egg industry

The global production volume of eggs reached about 86.4 million metric tons in 2021, up from about 55 million metric tons in 2000. The vast majority of the world’s chicken eggs are produced in China. In 2021, some 586 billion eggs were laid in China, about five times more than the United States. The total value of eggs produced in the United States peaked in 2015, but has since decreased.

Egg retail in the United States

In the United States eggs are a popular breakfast food as well as an ingredient in many recipes. Since chicken eggs seem to be more or less homogenous across different brands, private label eggs are the leading fresh egg brand in the United States in terms of dollar sales. In 2022, the best selling name brand of fresh eggs was Eggland’s Best, followed by Vital Farms and Pete & Gerry’s.