US Landscaping Market Outlook 2026: Sales and Projection to 2030
The US landscaping market was worth $143.5 billion in 2024 and reaches an estimated $153.8 billion in 2026. More than 500,000 solo operators make up four in five businesses in the industry and 14% of its revenue.
In 2024, US landscaping firms with paid staff took in $123.6 billion, up 6.9% on the year before. Alongside them, around half a million solo operators with no employees took in a further $19.9 billion.
Together that is a $143.5 billion market, reaching an estimated $153.8 billion in 2026 and $176.5 billion by 2030.
The industry is unusual in its shape. It has 117,969 firms with employees and 517,000 without. Seven in ten of the firms that do employ people employ fewer than five. And slightly more of its revenue comes from business and institutional customers than from households.
Figures in this article cover NAICS 561730, landscaping services, which includes lawn care and maintenance, landscape installation, ornamental tree and shrub services and related work
The US Landscaping Market Reaches $153.8 Billion in 2026
Combining landscaping firms with paid employees and solo operators without staff, the US landscaping market was worth $143.5 billion in 2024 and reaches an estimated $153.8 billion in 2026.
Firms with paid employees account for 86.1% of the total. Solo operators are numerous but small, averaging $36,011 in revenue each in 2023.
Revenue Grew 6.9% in 2024 After a Flat 2023
Landscaping revenue at firms with staff rose from $77.0 billion in 2017 to $115.4 billion in 2022, a compound rate of 8.4% a year. It then stalled, rising 0.2% in 2023, before gaining 6.9% in 2024 to reach $123.6 billion.
Across 2023 and 2024 together the industry averaged 3.5% a year. That two year figure is the more reliable guide than either single year, since one was unusually flat and the other unusually strong.
Landscaping Market Forecast to 2030
The forecast projects the 2022 to 2024 compound growth rate of 3.5% a year forward from 2024. On that rate the total US landscaping market reaches $153.8 billion in 2026 and $176.5 billion in 2030.
The market adds $33.0 billion between 2024 and 2030, an average of $5.5 billion a year. The number of firms with paid staff is projected to rise from an estimated 120,668 in 2024 to 138,208 by 2030, on the long-run establishment growth rate of 2.3% a year.
517,000 Solo Operators Are 82% of Businesses and 14% of Revenue
The US had 517,000 landscaping businesses with no paid employees in 2023, against roughly 115,000 with staff. Solo operators make up around 82% of all landscaping businesses and generate 13.9% of industry revenue.
Average revenue per solo operator was $36,011 in 2023. Average revenue per firm with staff was $979,911. The gap is a factor of 27.
Barriers to entry are low and barriers to scale are not. Half a million people run a landscaping business alone, which tells you how little capital it takes to start one. Fewer than one in five ever hire an employee. For anyone entering the industry, the competitive question is not whether a solo operator can win work, it is what would let them cross from $36,000 to a payroll business.
Payroll Has Held Near a Third of Revenue Since 2017
US landscaping firms spent 32.4% of revenue on payroll in 2017 and 33.2% in 2024. Unlike many labour-intensive service industries, the share has moved very little across seven years.
Employment rose 16.7% between 2017 and 2024, from 720,702 to 841,102, and average pay rose 41.0%, from $34,630 to $48,821. Revenue per employee rose from $106,887 to $146,986 over the same period, an increase of 37.5%.
The industry has absorbed rising wages by raising output per worker at a similar rate. That is the difference between a payroll share that holds at a third and one that climbs.
A note on the 2024 expense figures. Reported operating expenses fell from $100.0 billion in 2023 to $98.5 billion in 2024 while revenue rose $8.0 billion, which would imply the gap between revenue and operating expenses widening from 13.5% to 20.3% in a single year. A movement of that size in one year is more likely to reflect a change in reporting or coverage than a genuine shift in industry margins, so it is not used in the forecast here.
Seven in Ten Landscaping Firms Employ Fewer Than Five People
Of the 117,969 US landscaping establishments with paid staff in 2023, 83,241 employed fewer than five people. That is 70.6% of the industry, and those firms employ 14.2% of the workforce.
At the other end, 776 firms employ 100 or more people. They are 0.7% of the industry and employ 21.1% of its workers.
Growth is concentrated in the middle and upper bands. Firms with 50 to 99 staff grew 13.6% in a year and firms with 20 to 49 staff grew 5.3%, against 0.2% for the smallest category. Firms with 1,000 or more employees rose from 7 to 10.
S-corporations run six in ten landscaping firms
S-corporations operate 70,913 landscaping establishments, 60.1% of the industry, and grew 5.5% between 2022 and 2023. Individual proprietorships fell 8.2% to 25,441 and partnerships fell 4.9% to 10,340. The shift toward incorporated structures is consistent with firms growing past the point where a sole proprietorship makes sense.
Hispanic-Owned Landscaping Firms Grew 42% Between 2017 and 2022
Hispanic-owned landscaping firms with paid staff rose from 11,934 in 2017 to 16,958 in 2022, an increase of 42.1%. Their revenue rose from $5.5 billion to $11.2 billion, up 104.7%.
Hispanic-owned firms accounted for 15.4% of landscaping firms with staff in 2022, up from 11.5% in 2017. Among solo operators the share is higher still: 137,000 of the 517,000 in 2023, or 26.5%, generating 31.3% of solo operator revenue.
Women own 10.6% of landscaping firms with staff, generating 8.7% of revenue at $823,000 per firm. Among solo operators women own 14.3%. The gap between female and male revenue per firm is narrower in landscaping than in many service industries.
Where This Data Stops and Custom Research Begins
National figures describe an industry with more than 600,000 businesses in it. They do not describe the twenty or thirty you actually compete with.
The questions that follow usually need primary research. What commercial and residential customers in a specific area pay per visit, per season and per contract. Which services they buy elsewhere that you could supply. What would make a property manager switch contractors. Whether a market has room for another crew or is already saturated at the price point you need.
What we do at Bridging Local
We run custom research for businesses that need answers national datasets cannot provide. That means local market deep dives, competitor mapping and pricing audits, surveys and interviews with the customers and buyers you are trying to reach, and market sizing built from the ground up for a specific service area rather than scaled down from national totals.
For landscaping operators, suppliers, franchisors and investors, that usually looks like sizing demand in a defined service territory, testing a pricing or service model before launch, or building the case for expansion into a new market.
If you are growing, buying or investing in a landscaping business and need evidence rather than inference, that is the work we do. Custom surveys, in-depth interviews, competitive analysis and local market deep dives, built around your specific decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the US landscaping industry in 2026?
The US landscaping market is estimated at $153.8 billion in 2026, including $132.4 billion from firms with paid employees and $21.3 billion from solo operators. The total for 2024 was $143.5 billion. The 2026 figure is a Bridging Local estimate built by projecting the 2022 to 2024 growth rate of 3.5% a year forward from 2024.
What is the landscaping market forecast to 2030?
The US landscaping market is projected at $176.5 billion by 2030, growing at 3.5% a year from $143.5 billion in 2024. That adds $33.0 billion over six years, an average of $5.5 billion a year. The number of firms with paid staff is projected to rise from an estimated 120,668 in 2024 to 138,208 by 2030.
How many landscaping companies are there in the US?
There were 117,969 landscaping establishments with paid employees in the US in 2023, estimated at 120,668 in 2024. A further 517,000 solo operators ran without paid staff. Together that is roughly 635,000 landscaping businesses, of which around 82% have no employees. Solo operators generate 13.9% of industry revenue.
How much do landscaping workers earn?
Average annual payroll per employee at US landscaping firms was $48,821 in 2024, up from $34,630 in 2017, an increase of 41.0%. The industry employed 841,102 people in 2024. These averages divide total payroll across all employees and include seasonal and part-time staff, so they should not be read as a full-time wage.
How much of landscaping revenue goes to labour?
Payroll accounted for 33.2% of revenue at US landscaping firms with paid staff in 2024, compared with 32.4% in 2017. The share has been stable because revenue per employee rose 37.5% over the period while average pay rose 41.0%, keeping the two broadly in step.
About This Analysis
This analysis was produced by Bridging Local (RC Research & Insights Inc.), a Vancouver-based market research and business consulting firm. We run primary research across B2B and B2C markets, including surveys, in-depth interviews, competitive analysis, local market deep dives and go-to-market strategy.
If you are sizing a market, testing a concept, or working out where demand sits in your category, our market research services are built for exactly that.
