1

U.S. Horticulture in 2014 

Results from the 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.agcensus.usda.gov

(800)727-9540

Highlights

In 2014, U.S. horticulture operations sold $13.8 billion in floriculture, nursery, 

and other specialty crops, an 18 percent increase since 2009. During that time 

industry-wide expenses increased 16 percent. More than half of horticulture 

farms are family or individually owned but corporations account for three fourths 

of sales. Ten states account for 65 percent of sales, with California and Florida 

each having sales well over $1 billion.

These are among the many findings in the 2014 Census of Horticultural 

Specialties conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service 

(NASS). The first horticulture census was conducted in 1889, and sales have 

increased steadily, particularly since the late 1980s (Fig. 1). The 2014 study was 

a detailed census 

of all farms with 

annual horticulture 

crop sales of 

$10,000 or more. 

To measure 

the industry’s 

expansion, 

NASS added 60 

new flowers and 

plants to the 2014 

questionnaire 

since 2009, 

the last time 

the horticulture 

census was 

conducted.

Horticulture Farms

Across the country, the number of horticulture operations increased 8 percent 

between 2009 and 2014 to 23,221 farms. Most states experienced an increase 

but in 15 states the number of horticulture farms decreased. (Fig. 2)

Smaller farms (with annual horticulture sales of $100,000 or less) accounted

for 4 percent of sales in 2014. Farms with annual sales greater than $100,000

accounted for 96 percent of sales. Similarly, smaller farms had higher retail 

Fig. 1

U.S. Horticulture Sales, 1889 - 2014

($ billions)

0.2

1929

0.03

1889

0.3

1949

0.5

1959

1.0

1970

3.2

1979

4.8

1988

10.6

1998

11.7

2009

13.8

2014

Source: USDA NASS, Census of Horticultural Specialties. The graph shows the years in which the 

horticulture census was conducted – by the Census Bureau until 1988, and by USDA’s National 

Agricultural Statistics Service since 1998.

ACH12-33/January 2016

31 percent. . . 

. . . of horticulture sales are 

nursery stock crops.

Top States in Sales

($ millions)

California 2,878.0

Florida 1,796.7 

Oregon 932.0

Michigan 645.0

Texas 593.8

North Carolina 570.7

Ohio 392.1

Arizona 388.9

Washington 365.7

New Jersey 355.7
2 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties

Horticulture Crops

Nursery stock items were by far the top-selling crop, valued 

at $4.3 billion in 2014. The top ten crops in 2014 were also 

the top crops in the last horticulture census, although the 

order shifted slightly. All ten increased in total sales during 

that time. (Table 1)

Table 1

Top Horticulture Crops in Sales, 2009 and 2014 

(in 2014 rank order)

2009 2014

($ millions)

Nursery stock 3,850.3 4,266.6

Annual bedding & garden plants 2,305.9 2,567.5

Sod, sprigs, or plugs 876.8 1,138.5

Potted flowering plants 871.5 1,084.3

Potted herbaceous perennial plants 843.8 944.9

Food crops under protection 553.3 796.7

Foliage plants 509.9 721.9

Propagative materials 601.7 695.1

Cut flowers and cut lei flowers 403.3 462.1

Commercial strawberry & vegetable plants 330.6 371.8

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties.

Expenses

Horticulture producers had $11.0 billion in expenses in 

2014, up from $9.5 billion in 2009. Hired labor was the 

single largest category, accounting for 37 percent of total 

costs. (Table 2)

Table 2

Top Horticulture Production Expenses, 2014

($ millions and percent change since 2009)

$ billions % change 

since 2009

Hired labor 4.1 + 13

Seeds, plants, vines, trees, etc. 1.8 + 21

Containers 0.6 + 17

Gasoline, fuels, and oils 0.6 + 22

Other 4.0 + 16

Total 11.0 + 16

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties.

than wholesale sales. Larger farms sold primarily to 

wholesalers, with the largest farms (annual sales more 

than $2.5 million) selling almost exclusively to wholesalers. 

Wholesale sales made up 86 percent of total horticulture 

sales in 2014.

Of 17 kinds of horticulture farms, the top three are 

operations producing primarily nursery stock (5,963 farms), 

annual bedding/garden plants (5,543 farms), and cut 

Christmas trees (2,893 farms). An operation is classified 

as a particular kind of farm if more than 50 percent of the 

grower’s income comes from the category. These were 

also the top three horticulture farm categories in 2009. 

SNAPSHOT: U.S. Horticulture Production, 2009 and 2014

2009 2014 % change

Number of operations 21,585 23,221 + 8

Total sales ($ billions) 11.7 13.8 + 18

Avg. sales per operation ($1,000s) 541 594 +10

Wholesale as % of total sales 84.6 86.0 +2

Corporations as % of total operations 34.9 37.6 +8

Production expenses ($ billions) 9.5 11.0 + 16

Number of operations hiring labor 16,639 17,086 + 3

Number of hired workers 280,201 274,759 -2

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties.

Fig. 2

Number of Horticulture Farms by State, 2014, and Change from 2009

65

HI 450

1710

18

1281

709

273

128

34

125 253

155 92

169

148

62

37 487

289

291

519

833

940

778

1397

1058

320

434

473 131 560

1337

250

431

2069

180 259

104 547 146

682

DE 51

NJ 630

MA 583

RI 155

CT 492

NH 212

VT 281

MD 313

280

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties.

The 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties is part of the Census of Agriculture program. For more information on the 

horticulture census, go to: http://agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/Census_of_Horticulture_Specialties. For information

on the Census of Agriculture, visit: 

www.agcensus.usda.gov

Increase since 2009 Decrease since 2009

U.S. = 23,221