Landscaping is a broad U.S. economic activity spanning landscaping-service establishments, horticultural production, grounds-maintenance jobs, and the products and inputs used to create and maintain outdoor spaces. In 2024, USDA counted 23,060 horticultural specialty operations with at least $10,000 in product sales, while the Census Bureau counted 117,969 employer establishments in NAICS 561730 landscaping services in 2023. These are complementary measures, not interchangeable industry totals.
Contents
- Industry scope and scale
- Long-run horticultural sales
- Products and recent change
- Channels, land, and water
- Production costs and inputs
- Workforce, wages, and outlook
Industry scope and scale
The headline number depends on what is being measured. The Census Bureau’s 2023 profile for NAICS 561730 recorded 117,969 U.S. employer establishments in landscaping services. This establishment count describes businesses in the service classification; it does not measure horticultural product sales or the number of workers in every landscaping-related occupation. 561730: Landscaping services – Census Bureau Profile
USDA’s 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties used a different frame. It counted 23,060 U.S. horticultural specialty operations producing and selling at least $10,000 of horticultural products. Those operations reported $18.3 billion in horticultural product sales. The USDA frame therefore captures production and product revenue, rather than every landscaping-service establishment or total landscaping-service revenue. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Production is geographically concentrated. The five states with the largest horticultural sales represented 48% of U.S. horticultural sales and 33% of operations in 2024. That difference matters: the largest sales-producing states accounted for a larger share of sales than of operations, indicating that sales and operation counts describe different aspects of the national production footprint. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
For a workforce perspective, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 943,430 landscaping and groundskeeping workers nationally in May 2024. It also counted 124,130 first-line landscaping, lawn-service, and groundskeeping supervisors. These occupation totals are not a direct measure of landscaping-industry revenue: they cover workers whose duties include landscaping or groundskeeping and can span employers and business structures. Occupational Employment and Wages – May 2024
Long-run horticultural sales
USDA’s historical series shows the expansion of reported U.S. horticultural sales over several decades. The series recorded $0.2 billion in 1929, $0.3 billion in 1949, and $0.5 billion in 1959. It reached $1.0 billion in 1970 and $3.2 billion in 1979.
The later observations were $4.8 billion in 1988, $10.6 billion in 1998, $11.7 billion in 2009, and $13.8 billion in both 2014 and 2019. The 2024 census reported $18.3 billion in horticultural product sales. These are reported dollar values from the USDA horticultural-specialty series; the figures should not be treated as an inflation-adjusted growth rate or as total revenue for all landscaping services. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
| Period | Reported U.S. horticultural sales |
|---|---|
| 1929 | $0.2 billion |
| 1970 | $1.0 billion |
| 1998 | $10.6 billion |
| 2019 | $13.8 billion |
| 2024 | $18.3 billion |
The repeated $13.8 billion observations in 2014 and 2019 are part of the supplied historical series. They should remain separate period observations rather than being interpreted as a calculated change. The USDA product-sales measure also has a narrower scope than the Census Bureau’s landscaping-services establishment count.
Products and recent change
The 2024 USDA census gives a detailed view of product categories connected to landscaping and horticultural production. Nursery-stock sales were $5.340 billion, up 17% from 2019. Annual bedding-plant sales were $2.667 billion, up 19%, while sod sales were $1.704 billion, up 34%.
Several smaller categories recorded larger percentage gains over the same comparison. Potted herbaceous-perennial sales were $1.360 billion, up 47% from 2019. Food crops grown under protection reached $1.011 billion, up 44%. Foliage-plant sales were $0.932 billion, up 35%; vegetable and strawberry transplants reached $0.492 billion, up 33%; and cultivated Christmas-tree sales were $0.472 billion, up 32%.
| 2024 category | Sales | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery stock | $5.340 billion | +17% |
| Annual bedding plants | $2.667 billion | +19% |
| Sod | $1.704 billion | +34% |
| Potted herbaceous perennials | $1.360 billion | +47% |
| Foliage plants | $0.932 billion | +35% |
Other reported categories included cultivated-mushroom sales of $1.503 billion, potted flowering-plant sales of $1.287 billion, propagative-material sales of $0.780 billion, cut-flower sales of $0.468 billion, and cultivated Christmas-tree sales of $0.472 billion. Mushroom data were first collected in 2024, so USDA did not provide a 2019 comparison for that category. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Channels, land, and water
Wholesale channels dominated the value of reported U.S. horticultural sales in 2024. USDA reported $15.6 billion in wholesale sales, representing 85% of sales value. Retail sales represented 14% of sales value, while direct-to-consumer transactions accounted for 18% of all U.S. horticultural sales. These channel percentages describe horticultural sales and should not be applied to landscaping-service revenue.
The production footprint also changed between 2019 and 2024. Horticultural production in the open, excluding shade structures, covered 466,981 acres in 2024, down 15% from 2019. Sod production occupied 326,903 acres, down 2%, and cultivated Christmas trees occupied 166,000 acres, down 3%. In contrast, natural-shade production area rose to 10,284 acres, up 53% from 2019. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Water use is another important part of the landscaping context. The EPA WaterSense “Outdoors” page estimates that U.S. residential outdoor water use is nearly 8 billion gallons per day, mainly for landscape irrigation. EPA presents this as a national estimate and does not state a single measurement year on the page accessed for this statistic. Outdoors
The acreage figures and the EPA water estimate measure different things. USDA’s acreage data describe horticultural production areas in 2024 and changes since 2019. EPA’s figure describes estimated residential outdoor use nationally, without a single survey year stated. Neither should be read as a complete measure of all commercial or residential landscaping water consumption.
Production costs and inputs
USDA reported $14.919 billion in total horticultural production expenses in 2024, up 28% from 2019. Labor was the largest listed expense at $5.571 billion, up 14%. Seeds, growing media, and containers totaled $4.042 billion, up 39%.
Input categories with faster reported growth included fuel, utilities, supplies, and repairs, at $2.033 billion and up 49% from 2019. Fertilizer and chemical expenses reached $1.038 billion, up 54%. Other horticultural operating expenses were $0.975 billion, up 30%, while rent, interest, and taxes totaled $0.946 billion, up 25%.
Marketing and packaging expenses were $0.314 billion in 2024, up 4% from 2019. The expense categories describe USDA’s horticultural-specialty production frame, not the complete cost structure of every landscaping-service business. They also are reported totals, not calculated margins or per-operation costs. 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
Workforce, wages, and outlook
The May 2024 BLS national data put the mean wage for landscaping and groundskeeping workers at $19.66 per hour, or $40,880 per year. The same release counted 943,430 workers in that occupation group and 124,130 first-line supervisors. Occupational Employment and Wages – May 2024
BLS’s Occupational Outlook Handbook reported 1,188,600 landscaping and groundskeeping workers in 2025. Services to buildings and dwellings employed 48% of U.S. grounds-maintenance workers, and self-employed workers made up 20%. The median hourly wage was $19.27 for grounds-maintenance workers overall and $18.82 for landscaping and groundskeeping workers in May 2025. Grounds Maintenance Workers
BLS forecasts 5% growth in grounds-maintenance employment from 2025 to 2035 and projects an average of 162,500 annual openings over that period. The openings include replacement needs as well as employment growth. For landscaping and groundskeeping specifically, BLS projects employment to rise from 1,188,600 in 2025 to 1,244,200 in 2035; projection values are rounded to the nearest 100.
The same BLS projections put vegetation pesticide-handler employment at 25,700 in 2025 and 26,700 in 2035. Tree-trimmer and pruner employment is projected to rise from 70,600 to 73,600 over the same period. These are forecasts, not observed future totals, and the rounded values should be read accordingly. Grounds Maintenance Workers