What is the most common breed of dairy cow in the United States?

The most common breed of dairy cow in the United States is the Holstein.

Holsteins are the familiar black-and-white dairy cattle that dominate American milk production. They originated in the historic Netherlands region of Friesland and were developed for high milk yield. In the United States, the breed is often called Holstein, while Holstein-Friesian is a broader name reflecting its European ancestry and development.

Holsteins are prized primarily for the quantity of milk they produce rather than the highest percentage of butterfat. Jersey cows, for example, are smaller and produce milk that is especially rich in butterfat and protein, making them popular for products such as cheese and butter. Jerseys are common, but they remain far less numerous than Holsteins in the U.S. dairy herd.

The breed’s dominance reflects decades of selective breeding, performance recording, artificial insemination, and genomic selection. Holsteins are not the only dairy cattle in America—Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorn are also established breeds—but their numbers and total milk output make them the standard answer.