Home gardening ranges from growing edible plants at home to producing food in shared community plots. The available evidence is primarily U.S.-based and combines national surveys with localized studies from Laramie, Wyoming, and California, so the figures below should be read with their definitions and measurement periods intact.
Key Home Gardening Statistics
These figures summarize the most useful participation, access, production, and harvest-use findings:
- In 2013, 35% of U.S. households grew food.
- In 2013, 88.2% of U.S. food-growing households gardened at home.
- In fall 2015, 30% of U.S. adults aged 18–75 reported a home garden producing edible plants.
- In fall 2015, 12.7% of U.S. respondents without a home garden reported growing edible plants in containers.
- In fall 2015, 70% of the U.S. analytic sample did not have a home garden.
- In fall 2015, 31.6% of male respondents and 28.6% of female respondents reported a home garden.
- In fall 2015, 87.6% of U.S. respondents did not meet the study’s fruit-and-vegetable recommendation of at least 4.5 cups per day.
- Between April 2012 and mid-January 2013, more than 74% of FoodAPS respondents did not acquire at least 2.5 cups of vegetables per 2,000 calories during the week.
- Between April 2012 and mid-January 2013, access to one’s own garden was associated with a 1.28 prevalence ratio for acquiring enough vegetables for at-home consumption among U.S. FoodAPS respondents.
- From 2012 to 2014, an average 253-square-foot Laramie plot yielded 128 pounds of produce.
- From 2012 to 2014, the average Laramie plot yielded 0.51 pounds per square foot.
- From 2012 to 2014, the average Laramie harvest was valued at $422 using local farmers-market prices.
- From 2012 to 2014, Laramie gardeners ate 39% of their harvest by weight, stored 31%, and gave away 30%.
- In 2013, Laramie plot yields ranged from 0.01 to 2.06 pounds per square foot.
- During the growing season in a 2024-published California study, 38% of community-garden respondents estimated harvesting one to five pounds per week.
- During June–July in that California study, the three measured crops averaged 4.40 pounds per garden bed per week.
- At the mid-July peak, average production reached 259.74 pounds per garden per week for peppers, squash, and tomatoes.
- At peak production, measured output was valued at $1,206.45 per garden per week using June 2023 local organic-produce prices.
Contents
- Home gardening participation and household adoption
- Who gardens at home: demographic and geographic patterns
- Home gardening, vegetable access, and diet outcomes
- Home garden productivity, yields, and food value
- How gardeners use harvests and what they grow
- Community garden production, savings, and food security
Home Gardening Participation and Household Adoption Statistics
National participation figures depend on the denominator. A household food-growing measure is not identical to a respondent’s report of a home garden producing edible plants, and container growing was measured separately in the 2015 survey.
The National Gardening Association figure cited in a peer-reviewed study found that 35% of U.S. households grew food in 2013. Among those food-growing households, 88.2% gardened at home in 2013; the latter percentage does not mean that 88.2% of all households gardened at home. Home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI
The same study’s fall 2015 online survey covered U.S. adults aged 18–75, with an analytic sample of 3,889 respondents. It found 30% reporting a home garden producing edible plants, while 70% did not have a home garden.
- Among respondents without a home garden, 12.7% reported growing edible plants in containers in fall 2015.
- The 2015 home-garden measure was self-reported and cross-sectional, so it describes an association and participation pattern rather than a causal effect.
These measures show why adoption estimates should always name the population and definition: all households, food-growing households, respondents with a home garden, and respondents using containers are different groups.
Who Gardens at Home: Demographic and Geographic Patterns
The fall 2015 survey provides descriptive subgroup estimates rather than evidence that demographic characteristics caused gardening behavior. Its geographic classification also matters: 73.5% of respondents lived in urban counties, defined in the study as collapsed Rural-Urban Continuum Code categories 1–3, and 33.8% had children in the household.
Selected subgroup shares reporting a home garden were:
| Survey group | Share reporting a home garden | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| Male respondents | 31.6% | Fall 2015, U.S. adults aged 18–75 |
| Female respondents | 28.6% | Fall 2015, U.S. adults aged 18–75 |
| White respondents | 32.3% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
| Black respondents | 15.0% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
| Hispanic respondents | 28.4% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
| Asian respondents | 39.3% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
| College degree or more | 31.7% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
| Retired respondents | 26.3% | Fall 2015, U.S. survey respondents |
The source defines race and ethnicity categories for the survey, and the Asian subgroup was small. The reported shares are descriptive associations, not population forecasts or causal comparisons. Home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI
Home Gardening, Vegetable Access, and Diet Outcome Data
Gardening studies often measure access or acquisition rather than proving that gardening changes diet. In the fall 2015 survey, 87.6% of respondents did not meet the study’s recommendation of at least 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day, while 30.2% were classified as obese by BMI; height and weight were self-reported, and the survey was cross-sectional. Home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI
FoodAPS provides a different measure. From April 2012 through mid-January 2013, more than 74% of U.S. FoodAPS respondents did not acquire at least 2.5 cups of vegetables per 2,000 calories during the week.
This is acquisition for the household food environment, not a direct measure of individual consumption.
Adjusted associations between garden access and acquiring enough vegetables for at-home consumption were reported as follows:
| Garden-access measure | Prevalence ratio | 95% confidence interval |
|---|---|---|
| Access to one’s own garden | 1.28 | 1.01–1.63 |
| Access to someone else’s garden | 1.07 | 0.82–1.39 |
| Access to both | 1.22 | 0.96–1.54 |
Among Black FoodAPS respondents, access to one’s own garden had a prevalence ratio of 2.35 for acquiring enough at-home vegetables, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.10–5.01. The corresponding figures were 1.21 for White respondents, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.92–1.58, and 1.37 for Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander respondents, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.68–2.77; the latter subgroup was small.
These are adjusted observational associations, not causal effects. Garden Access, Race and Vegetable Acquisition among U.S. Adults: Findings from a National Survey
Home Garden Productivity, Yields, and Food Value
The Laramie, Wyoming, study followed participating gardening households from 2012 through 2014. Its average plot was 253 square feet, yielded 128 pounds across the three growing seasons, and contained 17 gardener-defined crop types; the crop-type measure may underestimate true variety.
| Laramie measure | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average harvest per plot | 141 lb | 137 lb | 99 lb |
| Average harvest value per plot | $459 | $447 | $401 |
| Standardized vegetable-serving coverage | 72% of a year | 75% of a year | 78% of a year |
The dollar figures are price-based estimates using local market assumptions, not cash income or guaranteed savings. Serving coverage was derived from harvest weights and USDA serving recommendations, and the study is not a national production estimate.
Additional productivity observations show substantial variation among plots. Average yield was 0.51 pounds per square foot, while the most productive half of plots averaged 0.74 pounds per square foot; in 2013, individual plot yield ranged from 0.01 to 2.06 pounds per square foot.
Repeat-plot yield rates varied an average of 39% from year to year among the 12 Laramie plots observed for more than one year. The study included five participating households and nine plots in 2012, 31 households and 33 plots in 2013, and 12 households and 14 plots in 2014, so the yearly results should be interpreted as local observations. Food Gardeners’ Productivity in Laramie, Wyoming: More Than a Hobby
How Home Gardeners Use Harvests and What They Grow
Harvest weight does not equal food eaten immediately. In the Laramie study, gardeners reported eating 39%, storing 31%, and giving away 30% of their harvest by weight on average from 2012 through 2014.
Year-specific use patterns changed materially:
- In 2012, the harvest was 51% eaten, 19% stored, and 30% shared.
- In 2013, the harvest was 36% eaten, 30% stored, and 34% shared.
- In 2014, the harvest was 39% eaten, 45% stored, and 17% shared; the source notes that rounded percentages may not sum exactly.
The same study standardized vegetable-serving yield to a 253-square-foot plot. Under its USDA serving assumptions, average yield covered 72% of one year in 2012, 75% in 2013, and 78% in 2014 for the measured vegetable servings.
These are participating-gardener reports and derived estimates from one Wyoming location. They should not be generalized to every home garden, crop mix, climate, or household storage practice. Food Gardeners’ Productivity in Laramie, Wyoming: More Than a Hobby
Community Garden Production, Savings, and Food-Security Patterns
A study published in 2024 examined 18 urban community gardens on California’s Central Coast. Its survey found that 48% of community gardeners named food production as a primary gardening motivation, based on coding of written responses rather than an exclusive-choice question.
Estimated harvest volumes varied across gardeners. During the study growing season, 38% estimated harvesting one to five pounds per week, while 26% estimated six to ten pounds per week; these were self-reported averages across several months, and peak-season production differed.
Field measurements for peppers, squash, and tomatoes in June–July found the following average output per garden bed per week:
| Measured crop | June–July average | Mid-July peak |
|---|---|---|
| Peppers | 0.26 lb | 0.44 lb |
| Squash | 1.28 lb | 2.34 lb |
| Tomatoes | 2.78 lb | 3.98 lb |
| Three measured crops | 4.40 lb | 6.67 lb |
The three measured crops produced an average 183.44 pounds per garden per week during the June–July measurement period and 259.74 pounds per garden per week at the mid-July peak. Those figures cover only the three measured crops, not total garden production.
Using local organic-produce prices from June 2023, peak measured production was valued at $1,206.45 per garden per week. Estimated produce value per gardener ranged from $10.53 per week at the lowest-production period to $30.15 at peak; these are local price-based estimates, not realized household savings. Community gardens support high levels of food production, but benefit distribution is uneven across the gardener community