Gardening spans household food growing, ornamental plants, nursery production and commercial protected cultivation. The figures below distinguish U.S. commercial horticulture from household surveys and national water estimates, with measurement periods stated explicitly.
Key Gardening Statistics
These highlights cover the most broadly useful measures:
- In 2024, U.S. horticultural specialty operations reported $18.3 billion in sales, up from $13.8 billion in 2019.
- From 2019 to 2024, the number of qualifying U.S. horticultural operations rose from 20,655 to 23,060.
- In 2024, operations with at least $2.5 million in sales represented 6% of operations but 75% of total sales in the U.S. horticultural census.
- In 2024, nursery stock generated $5.339 billion in U.S. commercial sales, about 30% of horticultural sales.
- From 2019 to 2024, horticultural production expenses increased to $14.919 billion, 28% above 2019.
- In 2024, labor was the largest reported horticultural expense at $5.571 billion in the United States.
- From 2019 to 2024, open commercial horticultural production area fell 15%, from 549,063 to 466,981 acres.
- In 2024, greenhouse production covered 866 million square feet of commercial protected-production area in the United States.
- In a fall 2015 U.S. survey, about 30% of adults aged 18–75 reported growing edible plants in a home garden.
- In that fall 2015 survey, 12.7% of respondents without a home garden reported growing edible plants in a container.
- In the fall 2015 survey, home gardeners had adjusted odds of meeting fruit-and-vegetable recommendations of 2.08 compared with non-gardeners.
- In a 2019 U.S. BRFSS analysis of adults aged 65 and older, 10.2% were classified as gardeners.
- In that 2019 older-adult analysis, gardeners had adjusted odds of poor mental health of 0.50 versus non-exercisers.
- EPA estimates that landscape irrigation accounts for almost one-third of residential water use, exceeding 7 billion gallons per day nationwide.
- EPA states that weather-based irrigation controllers can reduce water use by 20% versus conventional equipment, with potential national savings of nearly 24 billion gallons annually.
Contents
- Key Gardening Statistics
- U.S. Gardening Industry Scale and Sales
- Nursery Plants and Specialty Gardening Data
- Gardening Production Costs, Labor and Channels
- Gardening Land, Greenhouse and Protected-Production Trends
- Home Gardening Participation and Food-Garden Outcomes
- Gardening Water Use and Health Associations
U.S. Gardening Industry Scale and Sales
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties measures commercial operations producing and selling at least $10,000 of qualifying horticultural specialty products. It is therefore an industry measure, not a count of every household garden or every landscaping business.
| Measure | 2019 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Total horticultural sales | $13.8 billion | $18.3 billion |
| Horticultural operations | 20,655 | 23,060 |
| Average sales per operation | $667,000 | $794,000 |
Sales rose 33% between 2019 and 2024, while the number of operations rose 12%; USDA reports average sales per operation up 19%. The average is not a median and applies only to qualifying operations. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
The long-run USDA series shows horticultural sales increasing from $0.2 billion in 1929 to $18.3 billion in 2024. The figures are nominal dollars unless otherwise stated, and category definitions or census methods may change over time.
Commercial scale is concentrated among larger operations. Businesses reporting at least $2.5 million in sales were 6% of operations but accounted for 75% of total sales in 2024, while operations with $10,000 to $99,999 represented 61% of operations; that latter share describes the number of operations, not their share of sales.
Wholesale sales represented 85.0% of horticultural sales in 2024, compared with 86.0% in 2019. This wholesale share applies to qualifying commercial horticultural operations and does not represent household purchasing.
Nursery Plants and Specialty Gardening Data
Nursery stock was a major commercial horticultural category in 2024, generating $5.339 billion in sales, 17% above 2019 and about 30% of all horticultural sales. The category describes sales by qualifying operations rather than household plant purchases.
| Nursery category | 2024 sales | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Broadleaf evergreen stock | $965 million | +13% |
| Coniferous evergreen stock | $873 million | +34% |
| Deciduous shrubs | $854 million | +27% |
| Deciduous shade trees | $837 million | +18% |
| Fruit and nut plants | $812 million | +10% |
| Deciduous flowering trees | $430 million | +14% |
The leading categories show stronger growth for coniferous evergreens than for broadleaf evergreens, while fruit and nut plants grew more modestly. All figures are 2024 commercial nursery-stock sales compared with 2019. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Smaller categories moved differently:
- Ornamental grass sales totaled $184 million in 2024, up 3% from 2019.
- Landscaping palm sales totaled $124 million in 2024, down 7% from 2019.
- Cacti and succulent sales totaled $65 million in 2024, down 18% from 2019.
- Bareroot herbaceous perennial sales totaled $9 million in 2024, down 18% from 2019.
Gardening Production Costs, Labor and Channels
Commercial horticultural production expenses totaled $14.919 billion in 2024, 28% above 2019. The cost structure included labor, inputs, utilities, chemicals, property-related costs and marketing; these are business expenses and do not measure household gardening budgets.
| Expense category | 2024 expense | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | $5.571 billion | +14% |
| Seeds, growing media and containers | $4.042 billion | +39% |
| Fuel, utilities, supplies and repairs | $2.033 billion | +49% |
| Fertilizer and chemicals | $1.038 billion | +54% |
| Rent, interest and taxes | $946 million | +25% |
| Marketing and packaging | $314 million | +4% |
Labor was the largest reported expense, while fertilizer and chemical expenses had the largest listed percentage increase. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
The number of commercial operations with hired workers increased from 14,861 in 2019 to 15,382 in 2024, a 4% rise. Reported hired workers increased from 242,695 to 248,827, a 3% rise; these measures exclude operations without hired workers.
USDA’s 2024 marketing-channel figures were:
- Wholesale sales: $6.329 billion.
- Home-improvement-store sales: $2.191 billion.
- Sales to landscape contractors: $2.089 billion.
- On-site horticultural sales: $1.813 billion.
Channel totals are commercial horticultural sales, not total consumer retail spending or the full landscaping-services industry. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Gardening Land, Greenhouse and Protected-Production Trends
Commercial production footprints changed between 2019 and 2024. Open horticultural production area, excluding shade structures, declined from 549,063 to 466,981 acres, a 15% decrease.
| Commercial area measure | 2019 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open production area, excluding shade | 549,063 acres | 466,981 acres | −15% |
| Sod production area | 334,206 acres | 326,903 acres | −2% |
| Cultivated Christmas-tree area | 172,000 acres | 166,000 acres | −3% |
| Natural-shade production area | 6,729 acres | 10,284 acres | +53% |
Sod area is a commercial horticultural category and is not residential lawn area. Natural-shade area increased even as the broader open-production measure decreased. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Protected-production measures also varied by structure type. Greenhouse production area decreased from 885 million to 866 million square feet, while glass-covered and rigid-plastic protected areas each increased 5%.
| Protected-production measure | 2019 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse production area | 885 million sq. ft. | 866 million sq. ft. | −2% |
| Plastic-film protected area | 666 million sq. ft. | 637 million sq. ft. | −4% |
| Glass-covered protected area | 109 million sq. ft. | 114 million sq. ft. | +5% |
| Rigid-plastic protected area | 111 million sq. ft. | 116 million sq. ft. | +5% |
| Shade-structure area | 392 million sq. ft. | 360 million sq. ft. | −8% |
These are commercial protected-production areas, not the total area of backyard greenhouses or household garden structures. USDA NASS, Horticulture: Results from the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Home Gardening Participation and Food-Garden Outcomes
A peer-reviewed national online survey conducted in fall 2015 examined English-reading U.S. adults aged 18–75; its analytic sample included 3,889 respondents, with a mean age of 46.3 years and 53.7% women. About 30% reported growing edible plants in a home garden.
Among respondents without a home garden, 12.7% reported growing edible plants in a container. The study treated container growing as distinct from its home-garden indicator, so the measures should not be combined.
The survey also measured diet and BMI, but its design was cross-sectional and self-reported. In the sample, 87.6% did not meet the study’s recommended fruit-and-vegetable intake guideline of at least 4.5 cups per day; the threshold followed the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines.
| Survey measure | Result | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Home-garden participation | About 30% | U.S. adults aged 18–75, fall 2015 |
| Container growing among non-gardeners | 12.7% | Respondents without a home garden, fall 2015 |
| Did not meet intake guideline | 87.6% | Analytic sample, fall 2015 |
| Mean BMI | 27.7 kg/m² | Analytic sample, fall 2015 |
| Classified as obese | 30.2% | Analytic sample, fall 2015 |
After adjustment for demographics and rurality, respondents with home gardens had more than twice the odds of meeting fruit-and-vegetable recommendations: adjusted OR 2.08, with a 95% CI of 1.69–2.55. Adjusted BMI was associated with home gardening at beta −0.94 kg/m², with a 95% CI of −1.36 to −0.52.
These are associations, not causal effects; the study cannot establish that gardening caused higher intake or lower BMI. Home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI
Gardening Water Use and Health Associations
EPA’s report Outdoor Water Use in the United States presents national estimates that cover outdoor landscapes broadly, so lawn, landscape and garden water are not interchangeable measures of edible gardening alone. It gives the example of a family of four using 400 gallons per day, with about 30% devoted to outdoor uses.
EPA estimates that landscape irrigation accounts for almost one-third of residential water use, totaling more than 7 billion gallons per day nationwide. An estimate cited from a 2003 irrigation study says more than 50% of commercial and residential irrigation water may be wasted through evaporation, wind, poor design or overwatering; this is an attributed estimate, not a direct national census measurement.
Potential efficiency scenarios include a 20% reduction from weather-based irrigation controllers versus conventional equipment, with nearly 24 billion gallons in potential annual U.S. savings. EPA also states that professionally installed and maintained soil-moisture sensors can potentially save a household more than 11,000 gallons of irrigation water annually; neither figure is an observed nationwide average.
A separate peer-reviewed analysis of the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System examined U.S. adults aged 65 and older. It classified 10.2% as gardeners, compared with 60.0% as exercisers and 30.8% as non-exercisers.
Among older adults, gardeners had adjusted odds of diabetes of 0.51 versus non-exercisers, with a 95% CI of 0.46–0.56. Gardeners also had adjusted odds of poor mental health of 0.50, with a 95% CI of 0.43–0.59, and adjusted odds of consuming at least five daily fruit and vegetable servings of 1.56, with a reported 95% CI of 1.40–1.57.
The BRFSS findings are observational associations based on self-reported survey measures and should not be interpreted as proof that gardening prevents diabetes or improves mental health. EPA, Outdoor Water Use in the United States; Gardening is Associated with Better Cardiovascular Health Status Among Older Adults in the US: Analysis of the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey