In 1987, United States mines in 26 states produced a record 930.58 million (short) tons of coal, an increase of 3.3% from a revised 900.5 million tons produced in 1986. Of this coal, the Eastern coal province produced approximately 48.3%, the western coal provinces (Northern Great Plains, Rocky Mountain, Pacific Coast, and Alaska) produced 29.3%, the Interior coal province produced 16.6%, and the Gulf coal province produced 5.7%. In rank, 0.6% was anthracite, 66.4% was bituminous, 24.6% was subbituminous, and 8.4% was lignite. There were no significant percentage changes in production by coal rank or by coal province from 1986.

Operators of 2,335 coal mines in Kentucky led the United States by producing 177.26 million tons of coal. Wyoming ranked second with 146.5 million tons, West Virginia was third with 137.67 million tons, Pennsylvania was fourth with 66.8 million tons, and Illinois was fifth with 60.7 million tons.

Canada produced 61.2 million metric tons.