How many wind turbines are there in the US? 77,839, and a quarter of them are in Texas
The US Wind Turbine Database maps 77,839 wind turbines at 1,825 wind farms in 45 states, with 159.6 GW between them. Texas alone has 19,943. GE made almost half.
The count comes from the US Wind Turbine Database, which the US Geological Survey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and American Clean Power keep from aerial images, federal aviation records and the industry's own data. It maps every utility-scale turbine, one by one: this Wind Watch reads its 28 September 2026 release (version 9.1).
A quarter of them in Texas
Texas has 19,943 wind turbines, 26% of those on land, more than the next three states together. US wind runs in a band from Texas through Oklahoma and Kansas to Iowa and the Dakotas, where the wind is strongest and land is open. California's 4,947 include some of the country's oldest, in the Altamont and Tehachapi passes.
| State | Turbines | Share | GW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 19,943 | 25.7% | 43.9 |
| Iowa | 6,514 | 8.4% | 13.7 |
| Oklahoma | 5,849 | 7.5% | 12.9 |
| California | 4,947 | 6.4% | 6.0 |
| Kansas | 4,415 | 5.7% | 9.7 |
| Illinois | 3,951 | 5.1% | 8.5 |
| Colorado | 3,320 | 4.3% | 5.4 |
| New Mexico | 2,866 | 3.7% | 4.3 |
| Minnesota | 2,726 | 3.5% | 4.8 |
| North Dakota | 2,334 | 3.0% | 4.9 |
| Oregon | 2,187 | 2.8% | 4.3 |
| Washington | 1,825 | 2.3% | 3.4 |
The twelve states with the most onshore turbines. Every state is in the free table; the farms are on the largest wind farms in the US and in Texas.
When they went up
Most of the turbines standing today went up after 2007. The busiest year was 2012, with 6,660 of today's turbines, as developers raced the expiry of the federal production tax credit; 2020 came close, for the same reason. 7,991 turbines, 10%, are 20 years old or more: the age at which farms are usually repowered with bigger turbines.
Wind turbines standing today, by the year their farm came online
Three makers built most of them
GE built 35,326 of the turbines, 45%, and Vestas 18,247. With Siemens Gamesa and the two companies it was made from, those three account for 82% of US turbines. The most common single size is 1.5 MW, GE's workhorse of the 2000s: 10,093 turbines.
US wind turbines by maker
Taller every year
The median turbine stands 134 m to the tip of its blade. New ones are much bigger: the average onshore turbine that came online in the US in 2025 was 3.8 MW, with a rotor 142 m across, against 1.5 MW and 81 m in 2005 (how turbines have grown). The tallest on land reach 211 m. At sea, Vineyard Wind's turbines reach 248 m.
129 at sea
Only 129 of the turbines are offshore, at Block Island, South Fork, Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind, which are running, and at Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind 1 and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which are being built and whose first turbines are already standing. US wind in 2026 has the state of each.
Method and sources
- Every turbine in the US Wind Turbine Database (USGS, Berkeley Lab and American Clean Power; public domain), version 9.1, 28 September 2026. One row is one turbine. A wind farm is a project as the database names it, by state.
- Capacity is the sum of the turbines' rated power, where it's recorded (72,783 of 77,839 turbines), so it's a little below the full figure.
- States: 45 states have turbines; Guam and Puerto Rico have a few more. Offshore turbines are counted apart.
- Figures as of 9 November 2026. Questions: mail@revolutionenergy.net.
Checked against published figures:
- USGS's own releases: 75,727 turbines and 157.8 GW in March 2026 (version 8.3), 77,379 in June 2026 (version 9.0); this one, 77,839.
- EIA put US utility-scale wind at 161.1 GW at the end of 2025, a little above the database's 159.6 GW, which leaves out turbines without a recorded rating.
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