The goat factor: Map shows number of goats in every U.S. county as of 2012 USDA census

Schleicher County, Texas, had 21,935 goats in 2012; Coconino County, Arizona, had 12,264; Wilson County, Tennessee, had 3,837; Polk County, Florida, had 2,237 and Bottineau County, North Dakota, didn't have a single goat, according to a The Washington Post county-by-county interactive map of where all 2,621,514 goats in the U.S. in 2012, the year of the most recent USDA Agricultural Census, were located.

"America's goat population is heavily concentrated in the Southwest, Texas in particular," Christopher Ingraham reports for the Post. Almost 80 percent of America's goats are raised for meat, and 16 percent are raised for milk. The other six percent—comprised of Angora goats—are raised for mohair, Ingraham writes.

"You'll find commercial goat farms operating in 2,996 of the country's 3,143 counties," Ingraham writes. "Of the top ten goat-producing counties, eight are in Texas, and two are in Arizona. In Sutton County, Texas, goats outnumber people 14-to-1. In Edwards County, also in Texas, the ratio is 22-to-1. All in all, goats outnumber people in 21 U.S. counties, all but one of which are in Texas." (Post map of goat populations by county in 2012. To view an interactive version click here)