Landscaping industry statistics

How’s the US landscaping industry looking in 2022? Pretty green and healthy according to the latest data.

Currently worth over $120 billion, the market’s grown steadily in the past five years. There are now over half a million landscaping businesses in the US, employing over 1.2 million people. So if you were thinking of swapping in your desk job for a career as a landscaper, now might be a good time.

To give you some insight into the marketplace, we’ve pulled together the latest stats. 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 $128.8bn
• There are more than half a million landscaping businesses in the US
• More than 1.2m people are employed in the landscaping industry

Landscaping market

The market size of the landscaping industry in the US, measured by revenue, is $128.8bn. The market size has grown 5.3% per year on average between 2017 and 2022.

There are 632,895 landscaping businesses in the US. 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 (60,149)
• California (51,235)
• New York (42,856)

Landscaping services

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

• Lawn care/chemical application (offered by 88% of professionals)
• Landscape maintenance (87%)
• Landscape design/construction (71%)
• Trees and ornamental (63%)
• Irrigation (47%)
• Snow and ice management (40%)
• Vegetation management (16%)
• Holiday lighting (15%)
• Perimeter pest control (15%)
• Mosquito control (14%)

According to the National Gardening Survey 2018, the average spending per household on lawn care and gardening activities rose considerably from $317 in 2014 to $503 in 2017 – the highest spend on record.

Since the pandemic, more and more people have taken up gardening. According to the 2022 National Gardening Survey, 16.8 million new gardeners have joined the market, mostly millennials.

Landscaping industry employment

There are more than 1.2m people employed in the landscaping industry in the US.

The average landscaping business in the US has 2 employees.

Overall employment of landscaping and groundskeeping workers is projected to 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 $48,800.

• Wages typically start from around $34,600 for a starting level landscaper and go up to approx $78,880 for a top-level landscaper.
• The District of Columbia, New York and Hawaii have the highest average salaries.

Landscaping industry challenges

The top ten leading challenges for landscaping companies are:

• Quality labor shortage (43%)
• Presidential election (34%)
• Low-ball competitors (33%)
• Economic recession (33%)
• Covid-19 (31%)
• High health insurance costs (31%)
• High workers’ compensation costs (30%)
• Personal life stress (28%)
• Customers cutting back/cancelling services (27%)
• Difficulty raising prices for work (25%)

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 and lawn care businesses has you covered. Just call or grab a quote online to get started.

Sources:

Ibis World
Statista
Career Explorer

This page was updated in September 2022 and all figures are the most up-to-date at the time of publishing.