845.1M
gallons of regular ice cream
U.S. producers made 845.1 million gallons of regular ice cream in 2025.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025← Back to the journal
Reference desk
U.S. Ice Cream Statistics: 2026 Snapshot
Clear, citable numbers on America’s favorite frozen dairy treats, gathered from public USDA reporting.
Updated October 27, 2026
A quick read on the scoop.
This reference brings together the latest comparable federal production figures with the most recent USDA per-person availability series. Use the linked source beneath each figure for the original table or report.
9.2%
year-over-year decline
Regular ice cream production in 2025 was 9.2 percent lower than the 2024 total.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025393
plants making hard regular ice cream
NASS counted 393 U.S. plants producing hard regular ice cream during 2025.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 20251.386B
gallons of frozen dairy products
U.S. output of ice cream and other frozen dairy products reached 1.386 billion gallons in 2024.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, 202560–65%
of production was regular ice cream
Regular ice cream remained the largest part of U.S. ice cream production across 2000 through 2024.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, 202520.3 lb
frozen dairy per person
U.S. per-capita availability of frozen dairy products was 20.3 pounds in 2021, the latest complete series in this USDA release.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, 202312.0 lb
regular ice cream per person
Regular ice cream accounted for 12.0 pounds per person in the same 2021 USDA series.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, 202310%
minimum milkfat for regular ice cream
The federal standard cited by NASS sets a minimum 10 percent milkfat content for regular hard ice cream.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025Method and sources
How to read these numbers.
Production figures describe what U.S. plants made, not retail sales or individual servings. Per-person figures are USDA availability estimates and do not measure exactly what any one person ate. The dates matter: the annual production report currently reaches 2025, while the complete per-person frozen-dairy series cited here reaches 2021.
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Dairy Products 2025 Summary, released April 24, 2026. This is the source for 2025 production, plant count, and the regular ice cream standard.
- USDA Economic Research Service, Ice cream and frozen dairy production dipped from 2000 to 2024, published July 16, 2025. This is the source for the 2024 total and long-run category share.
- USDA Economic Research Service, Ice cream consumption melts from 2000 to 2021, published July 6, 2023. This is the source for the per-person availability figures.
Cite this page
Make the source trail easy to follow.
Whistler’s Ice Cream Extraordinaire. “U.S. Ice Cream Statistics: 2026 Snapshot.” Updated October 27, 2026. https://whistlersicecream.com/ice-cream-statistics