Landscaping industry statistics

How’s the US landscaping industry looking in 2024? Pretty green and healthy according to the latest statistics.

Currently worth over $150 billion, the market’s grown steadily in the past five years. As a result, there are now over 600,000 landscaping businesses in the US, employing almost 1.3 million people. So if you were thinking of swapping in your desk job for a career as a landscaping or lawn care contractor, now might be a good time.

To give you some insight into the marketplace, we’ve pulled together the latest US landscaping industry statistics. Read on for an idea of the challenges landscapers typically face, the services they offer and what you could expect to earn.

Landscaping industry statistics at a glance

• The US landscaping industry is worth $153.6bn
• There are more than 640,000 landscaping businesses in the US
• Nearly 1.3m people are employed in the landscaping industry

Landscaping market

Recent statistics indicate that the market size of the landscaping industry in the US, measured by revenue, is $153.6bn. And the good news is the pandemic doesn’t seem to have hampered it much. In fact, it’s grown an impressive 8.3% per year on average between 2020 and 2023.

There are 641,782 landscaping businesses in the US, an increase of 3% since 2022. And while there may be some big players in the industry, there are no companies with more than a 5% market share.

The states with the highest number of landscaping companies are:

• Florida (61,751)
• California (52,682)
• New York (45,095)

Landscaping services

The services most commonly offered by landscaping professionals in the US are:

• Lawn care/chemical application (offered by 86% of professionals)
• Landscape maintenance (82%)
• Landscape design/construction (71%)
• Trees and ornamental (66%)
• Irrigation (51%)

While additional landscaping services (offered by 90% of professionals) include:

• Spring and fall clean-up (75%)
• Seasonal color installation (55%)
• Snow and ice management (46%)
• Vegetation management (22%)
• Perimeter pest control (22%)
• Mosquito control (22%)
• Holiday lighting (20%)

US household spending behavior

Since the pandemic, more and more people have taken up gardening. According to the 2023 National Gardening Survey, 80% of US households participate in gardening and lawn care activities – the highest in five years.

The average spending on lawn care and gardening activities per household has also risen, from $542 in 2021 to $616 in 2022 (an increase of $74). Small wonder, then, that 59% of landscaping companies’ gross revenue came from working on single-family residential properties.

Younger gardeners (particularly those in the 18-34 and 35-44 age groups) are most likely to spend more on tidying up their outdoor spaces. On average, the largest amount of money is spent on hardscaping, then installation and maintenance.

Looking towards the future, over one-third of households predicted their spending on lawn care and gardening activities would go up in 2023. Though this would likely mean investing more in food gardening and less on flowers and lawn care.

Landscaping industry employment

The US landscaping industry employs almost 1.3m people, while the average landscaping business in the US has 2 employees.

And the latest industry statistics predict that the overall employment of landscaping and grounds-keeping workers will grow 10% from 2019 to 2029.

This growth will be driven, in part, by the increase in ageing Americans. As baby boomers (the generation born between 1946 to 1964) approach their 60s and 70s, many are turning to landscape contractors to do the maintenance jobs they can no longer manage themselves.

Landscapers earn an average yearly salary of $39,790.

• Wages typically start from around $29,070 for a starting level landscaper and go up to approx $51,290 for a top-level landscaper.
• Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and Washington have the highest average salaries.

Landscaping industry challenges

Statistics indicate the top challenges for landscaping companies include economic uncertainty, high fuel prices, seasonality, and industry-wide labor shortages.

The current labor market causes some concern, with 59% of those surveyed for the State of the Landscape Labor Market Report saying that the labor market is worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, 84% of polled landscaping business owners said finding and keeping labor was a major challenge. While in 2023, 86% said they have at least one vacant position.

Landscaping business insurance

If you’re starting a landscaping or lawn care business, make sure you protect it with the right insurance.

Our insurance for landscaping businesses have you covered. Just call us at 978.344.4215 or grab a quote online to get started.

Sources:

Ibis World
Statista
US Bureau of Labor Statistics

This page was updated in June 2024 and all figures are the most up-to-date at the time of publishing.