2024

2024 Christmas Tree Statistics, Facts and Trends

The NY Times tells us that a man named W. V. McGalliard planted 25,000 Norway spruce seedlings on his farm in Mercer County not far from Trenton in 1901, making his farm the first commercial Christmas tree farm. The seedlings grew, and in 1908, customers came to the farm to choose their trees, buy them at $1 per tree, watch them being cut, and took them home or had them delivered. That was the birth of a huge industry - as well as a haven for wildlife - as that humble beginning led to over 350 million trees growing today! Also see:

• History and chronology of the Christmas tree and Christmas

• How to Get a Christmas Tree for Less or Even for (close to) Free

Christmas Trees and Decorations

The National Christmas Tree Association's (NCTA) most recent consumer survey is from 2017 ( The 2017 Census of Agriculture results were released by USDA in April 2019 ) and was conducted within the United States by Nielsen/Harris Poll. They polled 2,086 adults (over age 18) and from the survey, plus additional mopre recent information from other sources and surveys:

Real

In 2021, 20.98 million real Christmas trees were purchased. Compare that with pre-covid 2019, when it was estimated that 26.2 million live / real Christmas trees were purchased. So 2021 was way down. And 2019 was down slightly from previous years (27.4 million in 2018) and the median price was down, too; to $76.87 in 2019

There are about 350 million Christmas trees growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S at any given moment.

The 2022 median (midpoint) price is expected to be about $85. Compare this with the

• 2022 price = $93 (?) 2022 is expected to be up by 5% to 15%, even 20% compared to last year, meaning $85 - $100
• 2021 price = $81
• 2021 price = $70
• 2020 price = $81
• 2019 price = $76
• 2018 price = $66
• 2017 price = $74.

For more about Christmas tree prices and factors that affect them, see this page.

The best-selling species in The U.S. are

1. Fraser fir,
2. Noble fir
3. Douglas fir,
4. Balsam fir and
5. Scotch pine.

Fake

21.1 million new fake trees were purchased in 2017.

The average price for a fake tree was $107.

Want to compare the advantages and disadvantages or real vs. artificial Christmas trees?

Where are the trees grown?

Christmas Trees are grown for sale in 47 U.S. states, The largest Christmas tree growing states are (in order, largest to smallest):

1. Oregon, 8.5 million trees annually
2. North Carolina, 5.4 million trees annually
3. Michigan, 1.3 million trees annually
4. Pennsylvania,
5. Wisconsin and
6. Washington.

North Carolina is the leading grower of Fraser fir. Oregon is the top grower of Noble fir and Douglas firs.

The second tier states are:

7. Alabama,
8. California,
9. Connecticut,
10. Florida,
11. Georgia,
12. Illinois,
13. New Jersey,
14. New York,
15. Ohio.

Depending upon who you use as a sources, there are roughly 3,000 to 4,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States.

Where are trees purchased?

It looks like half of all consumers are equally split between going to a tree farm verses a big box store. Nurseries, tree lots and non-profit groups make up the other half.

• Big Box Store (Walmart, Home Depot, Loews, etc.) 28.5%
• Choose & Cut Tree Farm: 26.8%
• Retail Lot: 16.2%
• Nursery: 11.6%
• Non-Profit Group (Boy Scouts, churches, etc.): 7.4%
• Online: 5.6%
• Other: 3.9%

These are 2021 figures

Christmas tree facts

• Christmas Trees are grown in all 50 states... while 80% of the artificial trees sold worldwide are manufactured in China, (U.S. Commerce Department.).
• For every Real Christmas Tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
• There are about 15,000 Christmas tree farms in the U.S.,
• A Christmas tree takes between 4 to 15 years to grow to a typical height (6 - 7 feet) depending upon the variety, weather, etc.; the average growing time is 7 years.
• The roughly 350 million Christmas trees currently growing on commercial tree farms are busy sucking up carbon from the atmosphere! See the graphic at right.

Wayback Machine: 2007

By way of contrast, let's go back 10 years and looks at Christmas tree sales data from 2007

$493.3 million
Sales by U.S. Christmas tree farmers in 2007.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service <http://www.ers.usda.gov/ >

$114.3 million
Sales by Christmas tree farmers in Oregon in 2007.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service <http://www.ers.usda.gov/ >

$593.8 million
The value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China between January and August 2008. China was the leading country of origin for such items. Similarly, China was the leading foreign source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States ($66.2 million worth) during the same period.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/ >

Sources:

• http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/012876.html
• Christmas Tree Associations - National, regional  and local
• Center for a New American Dream,
• Agricultural Marketing Resource Center
• BIGResearch,
• St. Paul Pioneer Press,
• University of Illinois Extension.Christmas Trees and More,
• National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA).
• Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association.
• Harper's Index,
• The Joy of Cooking,
• Department of Defense,
• Unity Marketing,
• National Christmas Tree Association,
• USDA Economic Research Service,
• Guinness Book of World Records 2006,
• US Census,
• US Department of Agriculture
• US Department of Commerce,
• Charity Navigator,
• Giving Institute,
• The White House,
• Gallup,
• US Postal Service.

Other Tree tips:

• For tips about tree varieties and how to choose the right species of tree, click here !
  
• Tips on how to choose the height of the tree and pick out a good tree are found here !
  
• For the master list of tips for the entire process of buy and caring for your tree, click here !
  
  

For Easter egg Hunts, Children's Consignment Sales, Local Farm Markets and other types of Farms, click here.