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OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to determine the association between the consumption of dairy foods with urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and iodine deficiency risk in a nationally representative sample of the US population. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS 24-hour dietary recall data and laboratory data for UIC (μg/L) from subjects 2+ years old US population participating in National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 2001-2018 were used (N = 26,838) for analyses after adjusting for demographic covariates. Significant associations were assessed at P <0.05. RESULTS Mean intakes of total dairy were 2.21, 2.17 and 1.70 cup equivalents (cup eq) among those 2-8, 9-18 and 19+ years respectively. Of the dairy components, intake of milk was highest followed cheese and yogurt for all age groups. Total dairy intakes were positively associated with UIC among those 2-8 years (β=29.9±9.9 μg/L urine/cup eq dairy) and 9-18 years (β=26.0±4.8 μg/L urine/cup eq dairy) but not associated among those 19+ years. Total dairy intakes were associated with lowered risks (30%, 21% and 20% for among 2-8, 9-18 and 19+ years respectively) of being classified as iodine insufficient (UIC<100 μg/L) or lowered risk (47%, 30% and 26% among 2-8, 9-18 and 19+ years respectively) of being classified as iodine severely deficient (UIC<20 μg/L). CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that dairy foods are beneficially associated with UIC and lowered iodine deficiency risk.