How Many Calories in Salmon? Farmed vs Wild, Official USDA Numbers

A 3-ounce cooked portion of farmed Atlantic salmon is about 175 calories with 18.8g of protein, and the same portion of sockeye is about 133 calories with 22.5g of protein, by USDA FoodData Central figures. That is a 32 percent calorie gap between two things sold under the same word, and the leaner one carries more protein. Salmon is the clearest case in the whole food supply of a single name hiding very different numbers, and the variable is fat: farmed Atlantic salmon runs 12.4 grams of fat per 100 grams against sockeye's 5.6. If your log says "salmon," it is making a guess you could easily make better.

Official USDA numbers by species

All cooked with dry heat, per 100 grams:

Salmon	Calories	Protein	Fat
Atlantic, farmed	206	22.1g	12.4g
Atlantic, wild	182	25.4g	8.1g
Coho, wild	139	23.5g	4.3g
Sockeye	156	26.5g	5.6g
Pink	153	24.6g	5.3g

At a 3-ounce (85g) portion, which is the standard USDA serving:

Salmon	Calories	Protein	Fat
Atlantic, farmed	175	18.8g	10.5g
Atlantic, wild	155	21.6g	6.9g
Sockeye	133	22.5g	4.7g
Pink	130	20.9g	4.5g
Coho, wild	118	19.9g	3.7g

And at USDA's half-fillet portion, which is much closer to what actually lands on a dinner plate:

Salmon	Half-fillet weight	Calories	Protein
Atlantic, farmed	178g	367	39.3g
Atlantic, wild	154g	280	39.2g
Sockeye	155g	242	41.0g
Coho, wild	178g	247	41.7g
Pink	124g	190	30.5g

Note the pattern in that last table: farmed Atlantic and coho at the same 178g weight are 367 and 247 calories, a 120-calorie difference for identical-looking portions, while their protein is nearly the same. You are paying the difference entirely in fat.

Why farmed salmon has more calories

Farmed Atlantic salmon is fattier than wild fish because it is fed a controlled high-energy diet and does not swim great distances. That extra fat is not a flaw, and it is a large part of why farmed salmon tastes rich and forgiving to cook, but it does mean more calories per gram. Wild fish carry less stored fat, so they come in leaner and, per gram of flesh, slightly higher in protein.

This matters for tracking because most salmon sold in US supermarkets is farmed Atlantic, which is the highest-calorie option in the table. If your log defaults to a generic "salmon" entry that was built on a wild species, you can understate a regular dinner by 50 to 120 calories, several times a week.

The practical rule: if the label says Atlantic, assume farmed and use the higher figure. If it says sockeye, coho, pink, or "wild caught," use the leaner one. That single distinction is worth more accuracy than any amount of weighing.

Preparation, and where the calories really come from

Every number above is dry heat, meaning baked, grilled, broiled, or roasted with nothing added. Salmon is already 3.7 to 10.5 grams of fat per 3-ounce serving, and the cooking method adds whatever else you use:

Addition	Calories added
1 tbsp olive oil	119
1 tbsp butter	102
1 tbsp teriyaki or glaze	roughly 15 to 50, read the bottle

Two other forms worth knowing. Smoked salmon, or lox, is about 33 calories per ounce, which makes it one of the lowest-calorie ways to eat the fish, at a real cost: 2,000mg of sodium per 100 grams in USDA's regular lox entry. And canned pink salmon, drained, is about 117 calories per 3 ounces with 19.6g of protein, which makes it among the cheapest protein per calorie in any grocery store.

Salmon's actual selling point for tracking is protein density. At 22.5g of protein for 133 calories, sockeye is close to chicken breast territory while bringing omega-3 fats with it, which makes it an efficient way to hit the protein-first targets described in How to Track Macros.

What I do about the species problem

I log salmon more specifically than almost anything else I eat, and it is the one place I will accept a little extra friction. The reason is arithmetic: the gap between the salmon I cook at home and a generic salmon entry is up to 120 calories on a half-fillet, which is bigger than the error in most of my other food combined.

So in Nouri I write "grilled sockeye, half a fillet, no oil" rather than "salmon." Nine words, and the estimate reflects a real fish. When I get it from a restaurant and genuinely do not know the species, I say "salmon fillet, restaurant, probably cooked in butter" and let the estimate assume the fattier case, which is the honest default rather than the flattering one. The itemized breakdown then shows me the fish and the butter separately, so if I later find out it was wild I can adjust one line instead of the whole meal.

That is the pattern for every food where one word hides a range: say the thing you actually know, guess conservatively on the rest, and correct the single item rather than the plate. Nouri is iPhone (iOS only), and there is a free trial.

FAQ

How many calories in a 3 oz salmon fillet?

About 175 for farmed Atlantic, 155 for wild Atlantic, 133 for sockeye, 130 for pink, and 118 for wild coho, all cooked with dry heat.

How many calories in a whole salmon fillet?

USDA's half-fillet portions run 190 to 367 calories depending on species and weight, so a full fillet of farmed Atlantic can exceed 700. Restaurant portions are usually 6 to 8 ounces, which is 350 to 470 for farmed Atlantic.

Is farmed or wild salmon higher in calories?

Farmed, clearly. Farmed Atlantic is 206 calories per 100 grams against 139 to 182 for the wild species, because farmed fish carry more fat.

How much protein is in salmon?

About 18.8g to 22.5g per 3-ounce serving depending on species, and roughly 39g to 42g in a half fillet. Sockeye and coho are the most protein-dense per calorie.

Is salmon good for weight loss?

Yes, particularly the leaner species: sockeye delivers 22.5g of protein for 133 calories. Watch the cooking fat, since a tablespoon of oil adds 119 calories to a fillet that was already the most expensive item on the plate.

How many calories in smoked salmon?

About 33 per ounce, per USDA's lox entry. It is low in calories and very high in sodium, at 2,000mg per 100 grams.

How many calories in canned salmon?

About 117 per 3 ounces for drained pink salmon, with 19.6g of protein. Canned with the liquid and bones included runs slightly different, so check which form your can lists.

Which salmon is the healthiest?

The species differ mainly in fat, so the answer depends on your goal: wild sockeye and coho for protein per calorie, farmed Atlantic for more omega-3 fat per serving. All of them are high-protein, low-carb foods with zero carbohydrate.

How many carbs in salmon?

Zero. USDA lists 0g of carbohydrate for every species and preparation here, which is why salmon anchors low-carb and keto menus.

Does cooking change salmon's calories?

Dry-heat cooking removes water, which raises calories per gram while leaving the total unchanged. What genuinely changes the total is added fat: oil, butter, or a sugary glaze.

How many calories in a salmon dinner?

Take the fillet by species and weight, then add each component. A 6-ounce farmed fillet at 350, a cup of rice at about 205 per our rice guide, and a tablespoon of oil at 119 makes a 674-calorie plate.

Should I weigh salmon or estimate it?

Estimating is fine once you know the species, since that is the bigger variable. A supermarket fillet is commonly 150g to 200g, and USDA's half-fillet weights of 124g to 178g are a reasonable mental anchor.

Name the species, not just the fish, and say whether anything went in the pan. One sentence in Nouri will itemize the fillet and the fat separately, and our chicken breast guide covers the other benchmark protein worth knowing by heart.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Fish, salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked, dry heat (FDC 175168); Atlantic, wild, cooked, dry heat (FDC 171998); sockeye, cooked, dry heat (FDC 173692); pink, cooked, dry heat (FDC 172001); coho, wild, cooked, dry heat (FDC 173719); chinook, smoked, lox, regular (FDC 171985); pink, canned, drained solids (FDC 175175), fdc.nal.usda.gov (checked September 27, 2026)
• Portion weights, including the 3 oz and half-fillet measures, are USDA's own household measures; per-portion values calculated from USDA per-100g figures times those weights
• Olive oil and butter figures from USDA SR Legacy: Oil, olive, salad or cooking (FDC 171413) and Butter, salted (FDC 173410)