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The number of businesses is well documented. The dollar value of the global market is not.

Landscaping Industry Size and Growth: What Census and BLS Data Show

Census counts about 118,000 US landscaping employers and 803,000 workers in 2023. Private global estimates run $130B to $669B. Why they differ and how to hire.

8 min read

Government data document the US landscaping industry well, while global dollar figures are poorly documented. In the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns for 2023, NAICS 561730 (landscaping services) had 117,969 establishments with paid employees, 802,899 employees counted in mid-March, and $41.2 billion in annual payroll. Roughly 517,000 more businesses had no employees at all and reported $18.6 billion in receipts. Employer-firm revenue was about $115 billion in the 2022 Economic Census and $130.7 billion in the Census Service Annual Survey. By contrast, private research firms put the global landscaping market at anywhere from $129.7 billion to $669 billion for 2025, a fivefold spread. Government counts are the ones to trust; the global dollar figures are estimates with undisclosed methods.

The earlier version of this article stated that the global landscaping services market was "USD 296.09 billion in 2022" and would grow 6.4% a year through 2030, citing Grand View Research. We could not open that report to verify the figure or its scope, and the identical number was used in our lawn care article, so we removed it. The old sections on AI design tools, drones, and biophilic design were not sourced and have been removed too. For the lawn care slice of this industry, see our lawn care market guide.

What the Census Counts

County Business Patterns counts establishments that have paid employees. It does not cover people working alone, and its employment figure is a snapshot of the pay period that includes March 12, which for most of the country is before the peak growing season. Landscaping services (561730) is a broad category, and its NAICS definition includes lawn care, tree pruning and removal, sod installation, and combined landscaping and snow plowing.

From 2019 to 2023, the numbers in this category grew steadily:

  • Establishments: 108,024 to 117,969, an increase of about 9%.
  • Employees: 697,513 to 802,899, an increase of about 15%.
  • Annual payroll: $29.8 billion to $41.2 billion, an increase of about 38%, or roughly 8.4% a year. Wage growth and hiring both contribute, so payroll rose faster than headcount.

The industry is mostly small. About 71% of 2023 establishments had fewer than five employees. Fewer than 7% had 20 or more, and only 776, or roughly 0.7%, had 100 or more. Add the Census nonemployer count of about 517,000 sole operators in 2023, and the typical landscaping business is one person or a small crew.

For dollars, the 2022 Economic Census shows 114,570 employer firms with $115.4 billion in revenue and $37.3 billion in payroll. The Service Annual Survey estimates employer-firm revenue at $130.7 billion for 2022, up from $95.4 billion in 2019, with reported expenses of $92.4 billion, or about 71% of revenue. The two Census revenue figures differ by about $15 billion because they use different methods. We found no published reconciliation, so treat 2022 employer revenue as roughly $115 to $131 billion. Revenue growth in those years reflects higher prices as well as more work.

What BLS Adds: Jobs and Pay

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures the workforce differently, which explains why its figures do not match the Census counts.

  • The Occupational Outlook Handbook lists about 1.3 million grounds maintenance jobs in 2025, a median pay of $40,080 a year ($19.27 an hour), and projected growth of 5% from 2025 to 2035. About 20% of those workers are self-employed and 48% work in services to buildings and dwellings, which is where most landscaping firms are classified.
  • BLS's May 2023 industry estimates for landscaping services count 915,720 employees, including 557,490 landscaping and groundskeeping workers (mean wage $19.47 an hour, or $40,490 a year) and 85,210 first-line supervisors (mean wage $27.36 an hour, or $56,910 a year). This is a May count, when seasonal hiring is higher than in March, so it is larger than the Census figure for the same year.
  • The same handbook notes the work is physical and done outdoors in all kinds of weather, and that grounds maintenance workers have a high rate of fatal injuries.

For homeowners, the wage data hints at why labor weighs heavily in a landscaping bid. It also points to a safety issue that we cover below.

Large Companies Are Small Pieces of the Market

The largest commercial landscaper, BrightView, is a useful check. Its fiscal 2025 annual report shows $2,672.8 million in net service revenues, about 71% from maintenance ($1,891.3 million) and 29% from development. BrightView says that is roughly 1.5% of a $124 billion commercial landscape maintenance and snow removal market, a figure it attributes to IBISWorld. It also cites IBISWorld for more than 720,000 US enterprises providing landscape maintenance, mostly sole proprietors, and reports about 18,600 employees plus roughly 1,500 seasonal workers on H-2B visas in 2025 (2,000 in 2024).

Those IBISWorld-based figures are company-cited third-party estimates, so we treat them as context. The Census count for 2023 (117,969 employer establishments plus about 516,600 without employees, or roughly 634,500) is smaller than 720,000, which fits with different years and definitions. The main point holds under either count: even the industry leader has a low single-digit share.

Why Private Global Estimates Range Fivefold

We opened four private landscaping reports. Their 2024 to 2025 sizes and scope statements:

  • Precedence Research: $129.70 billion in 2025 for landscaping and gardening services, reaching $211.28 billion by 2035 at a 5% CAGR.
  • Market.us: $298.5 billion in 2024, reaching $514.7 billion by 2034 at a 5.6% CAGR. It splits the market 58.2% commercial and 41.8% household, and puts North America at $146.5 billion.
  • Future Market Insights: $354.9 billion in 2025, reaching $657.5 billion by 2035 at 6.2%. Its scope includes lawn care, irrigation, custom design, hardscaping, and tree preservation.
  • The Business Research Company: $668.97 billion in 2025, reaching $1,123.53 billion by 2030 at a 10.9% CAGR.

The causes are the usual ones. Some reports include hardscape construction, tree services, and design; others do not. Some measure commercial and municipal work, some residential only. None publish their methods outside the paid report. The Market.us North America figure of $146.5 billion sits near the Census-based US total (about $133 billion to $149 billion in 2022), but the years and geography differ, so that overlap should not be over-read. If you need a number for a decision, use Census data for the US and a private estimate only as a rough trend indicator.

What This Means When You Hire a Landscaper

The data describes an industry of small firms with high labor content and physical risk. That suggests a few practical steps.

  1. Verify the business. The FTC advises considering only contractors who are licensed and insured, checking licenses with your state or county, asking for proof of insurance, and getting multiple written estimates that describe the work, materials, completion date, and price. Do not pay the full amount up front.
  2. Call 811 before any digging, including planting. 811 is the free national before-you-dig service, and it applies to routine projects such as planting trees and shrubs. The organization says failing to contact 811 is the top driver of damage to buried utilities, so ask your contractor whether they will place the call and wait for the marks, or place it yourself a few business days ahead.
  3. Treat tree work as a professional job. Given BLS's note about fatal injuries in the trade, removal near roofs, wires, or large limbs is a job for an insured crew, not a weekend project with a chainsaw and a ladder.
  4. Ask who applies chemicals. Many states require commercial applicators to be certified. The lawn care guide linked above explains what to ask before a company treats your lawn.
  5. Design for drainage. EPA's mold guidance says to make sure the ground slopes away from the foundation so water does not collect around it, and to clean and repair gutters regularly. Any plan that adds beds, soil, or mulch against the house should preserve that slope. Our guides on installing gutter guards and the effect of yard conditions on pests, such as keeping roaches out of your yard and which plants keep roaches away, cover related tradeoffs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the size of the landscaping market?

In the US, Census data show about $115 billion to $131 billion in employer-firm revenue in 2022, plus about $18 billion from businesses without employees. Global private estimates for 2025 range from $129.7 billion to $669 billion depending on the report.

What is the CAGR of the landscaping market?

Private forecasts we opened range from 5% to 10.9% a year. Census employer revenue grew roughly 10% a year from 2013 to 2022 in nominal terms, but that includes price increases and is not a forecast.

How many landscaping companies are there in the US?

About 117,969 employer establishments in 2023, according to Census County Business Patterns, plus about 516,572 nonemployer businesses. BrightView, citing IBISWorld, says more than 720,000 enterprises provide landscape maintenance.

How much do landscaping workers earn?

BLS reports median pay of $40,080 for grounds maintenance workers in 2025. In landscaping services specifically, BLS's May 2023 data show a mean of $19.47 an hour for landscaping and groundskeeping workers.

Why is the old $296 billion figure gone?

We could not open the source to confirm its scope, and it was used identically in another article. We replaced it with figures we could verify.

Sources

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