Nearly 64,000 people worked in wineries across the United States in 2020
U.S. employment in the winery industry exceeded 60,000 for the first time in 2016. Aside from a small decrease from 2008 to 2009, employment increased steadily from 2001⸺when the data were first collected⸺until 2019. From 2019 to 2020, employment decreased from 70,596 to 63,820, or 10 percent. The largest over-the-year employment net increase in the industry occurred in 2014, adding 4,493 jobs. The largest 12-month employment percentage increases occurred in 2003 and 2014, at 12.3 and 9.3 percent, respectively.
California leads the nation in the number of jobs in wineries
In 2001, 17 states had employment data for the winery industry that met BLS publication criteria. Among those states, California had the most winery jobs (19,576), followed by Washington (949) and Oregon (837). By 2020, employment data for the winery industry were available for 40 states. Not surprisingly, California continued to hold the most winery jobs in 2020 (36,001), followed by—again—Washington (4,190) and Oregon (3,310).
Wineries accounted for 24 percent of jobs in beverage manufacturing in 2020
In 2001, there were 175,451 jobs in the beverage manufacturing industry. Among the four component industries within beverage manufacturing, soft drink and ice manufacturing had the largest employment share, at 66 percent, followed by breweries (16 percent), wineries (14 percent), and distilleries (4 percent). In 2020, the beverage manufacturing industry had a total of 262,961 jobs. Although the employment share of soft drink and ice manufacturing declined from 2001 to 2020, it was still the largest, at 39 percent. The shares of the remaining three components within the beverage manufacturing industry grew from 2001, with breweries at 30
percent, wineries at 24 percent, and distilleries at 7 percent in 2020.
The number of wineries in the United States grew four and a half times from
2001 to 2020 The number of winery establishments in the United States exceeded 4,000 for the first time in 2016. In 2020, there were 5,024 wineries, more than 4 times the number in 2001. The largest 12-month percentage increases in the number of wineries occurred in 2002 (17.4 percent) and 2006 (13.1 percent).
California and Washington had the most wineries in 2020
In 2001, California had the most wineries (619), followed by Washington (81) and Oregon (65). California addedmore wineries (1,372) over the 2001–2020 period than any other state, continuing to be the state with the largest number of wineries, with 1,991 in 2020. Washington had the second largest number in 2020, at 435.
In 2001, 17 states recorded having wineries. By 2020, wineries were located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia had fewer than 10 wineries in 2020. All 50 states and the District of Columbia recorded an increase in the number of wineries over this 19-year period.
(Courtesy US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
