by 
Since the US Census Bureau publishes population data, and the TTB publishes DSP permit data, I thought it would be instructive to join the two datasets and examine “Distillery Permits per Capita by State” in the US. For this exercise, I took Census Population data from the 2020 Census (last available) and mashed it up with the TTB DSP Permits list as of March, 2024.
The top 10 states by population are listed in bold, while the lowest 10 states by population are listed in italic. Control states are marked with a (C). Permits per Capita is expressed in terms of permits per million population.
Interestingly, the Top 5 Permits per Capita states are all control states (Vermont, Maine, Montana, Oregon & Wyoming). Apart from Oregon, these are all lower-population states (approx. 1 million or fewer).
Vermont appears to be a particular outlier, having 49 permits with only 643,077 population. Contrast this with Alabama, which has a similar total of 46 permits but almost 10x the population – 5 million. Comparing the least and most dense states, permit density in Vermont is 25x higher than Mississippi, and both are control states!
Control States generally aim to control & reduce consumption through control of access to alcohol, and they also generate revenue for the State. This data illustrates that different control states have varying success against these targets. In states like Mississippi, Alabama and Utah, policies make it harder for companies to enter the alcoholic beverage industry, and this is justified under the mandate of protecting the public health and/or minimizing harm. In states like Oregon and Michigan, the use of “control” seems to be more about maximizing state revenue than minimizing harm.
Check out the data and a visualization below!
