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The closest official number covers more than mowing, and the private estimates disagree by a factor of three.

Lawn Care Market Size and Growth: What Census Data Shows

No agency tracks lawn care alone. Census puts US landscaping services near $133B to $149B; private global estimates vary 3x. Why they differ and what to do.

9 min read

No government agency publishes a "lawn care market" figure. The closest official category is NAICS 561730, landscaping services, which bundles mowing, fertilizing, tree work, planting, and snow plowing into one industry. In the Census Bureau's 2022 Economic Census, that industry had 114,570 employer firms and about $115.4 billion in revenue. A separate Census program, the Service Annual Survey, puts 2022 employer-firm revenue at $130.7 billion. Add roughly $18.0 billion earned by businesses with no employees (Census Nonemployer Statistics) and US landscaping services came to somewhere between about $133 billion and $149 billion in 2022, with lawn care as one part of it. Private research firms that size a global "lawn care" market land anywhere from $47.8 billion to $143.3 billion depending on whether they count only services or also fertilizer, seed, and mowers. Those are estimates, and the definitions differ.

The earlier version of this article said the global lawn care market was "USD 296.09 billion in 2022" growing at 6.4% a year through 2030, citing a Grand View Research landscaping services report. The same figure and citation appeared in our landscaping article. We could not open that report to confirm its scope, and a landscaping-services figure should not have been presented as a lawn care figure, so we removed it. The rest of the old article, which described AI mowers, drones, and gig platforms, was not tied to any source and has also been removed.

What "Lawn Care" Means in the Numbers

Three different things get called the lawn care market, and they are not interchangeable.

  • Services. Paid mowing, fertilizing, weed control, aeration, overseeding, and sometimes perimeter pest treatments. In federal data these are folded into landscaping services, NAICS 561730, whose index also includes tree pruning and removal, sod installation, and combined landscaping and snow plowing.
  • Products. Fertilizer, seed, herbicides, soil amendments, and irrigation supplies bought by homeowners and by service companies.
  • Equipment. Mowers, trimmers, and blowers. We cover that side separately in our lawn mower market guide.

A report that adds all three comes out roughly two and a half to three times the size of one that counts only paid services, as the estimates below show. Our landscaping market guide looks at the service industry itself, including its size, workforce, and structure.

What the Government Data Shows

The strongest anchors are Census programs that survey businesses directly.

  • Economic Census, 2022. Landscaping services (561730) had 114,570 employer firms, 116,787 establishments, 808,067 paid employees, $37.3 billion in annual payroll, and $115.4 billion in revenue. The Economic Census is taken every five years and is the benchmark source.
  • Service Annual Survey. This sample-based Census survey estimates employer-firm revenue for the same industry at $54.99 billion in 2013, $95.4 billion in 2019, and $130.7 billion in 2022. That works out to roughly 10% a year over nine years, but the figures are not adjusted for inflation, and 2021 and 2022 were years of unusually fast price increases. Treat it as nominal growth, not a count of extra lawns mowed.
  • Nonemployer Statistics. About 523,000 landscaping businesses with no paid employees reported $18.0 billion in receipts in 2022. In 2023 the count was about 517,000 and receipts were $18.6 billion. These are mostly individuals with a truck and a mower.

The two 2022 revenue figures disagree by about $15 billion. Both come from the Census Bureau, they use different methods, and we did not find a published reconciliation, so we show both rather than choosing one. If a government-sourced figure can carry a 13% range, be skeptical of any private estimate quoted to two decimal places.

Retail spending on lawn products shows up elsewhere. The 2022 Economic Census counted lawn and garden equipment and supplies retailers, a group that includes outdoor power equipment dealers, nurseries, garden centers, and farm supply stores, at about $67.1 billion in sales. That is a loose upper bound on the product side of the US market, not a lawn-only number, because nurseries and farm supply stores are in it too.

Why Private Estimates Disagree

Every private figure we opened is a paid market report with a public summary. The scope statements alone explain most of the spread.

Notice that the services-only global figure of $47.8 billion is far below the Census total for landscaping services in the United States alone. That is not a contradiction, because the Census category is broader than lawn care. It does show how much depends on where the boundary is drawn. None of these firms publish their sampling, currency, or segmentation methods openly, so the growth rates are forecasts you cannot audit. A compound annual growth rate is simply the smoothed yearly rate between a start and end value. It is arithmetic on an estimate, and it does not make a forecast more certain.

What This Means for a Homeowner

Market size does not tell you what to pay or how to care for your yard, but it does point to a few practical realities.

Most providers are very small. Of the roughly 118,000 employer establishments in the Census landscaping industry in 2023, about 71% had fewer than five employees, and hundreds of thousands more operate with no employees at all. A polished quote does not guarantee a stable business. The Federal Trade Commission's advice on hiring a contractor applies here: prefer licensed and insured contractors, check licenses with your state or county, get a written contract, and avoid paying the full amount up front.

Pesticide applications are regulated. EPA says that while federal rules require certification for restricted use products, many states require commercial applicators to be certified for all pesticides. Ask any company that treats your lawn for its state license or certification and for the names of the products it plans to apply. If a company also treats around your foundation, our pest control market guide explains how that industry is structured.

The label is the law. EPA's pesticide registration manual states that "the label is the law". That means the product may only be used as its label directs. Follow the label's rules on re-entry times, protective gear, watering-in, and keeping children and pets off treated grass. If you are considering DIY chemical treatments, read our guide on doing your own pest control safely first, and never use a product on turf that the label does not list for turf.

Lawn Care That Costs Less and Needs Fewer Chemicals

Some of the best-supported lawn practices are also the cheapest.

  • Mow high and less often. University of Illinois Extension recommends never removing more than one-third of the grass blade in a cutting and suggests cutting Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass at 2 to 3 inches and tall fescue at 2.5 to 3.5 inches. Taller grass promotes deeper roots and crowds out weeds. Warm-season grasses have different ranges, so check your local extension office.
  • Leave the clippings. Extension guidance says clippings are mostly water and decompose quickly, returning nitrogen to the lawn and lowering the need for fertilizer.
  • Keep the blade sharp. A dull blade tears grass and leaves ragged tips that are more prone to disease, according to the same Illinois source.
  • Water deliberately. EPA's WaterSense program says residential outdoor water use across the US is nearly 8 billion gallons a day, mainly for landscape irrigation, and that an average household uses more water outdoors than for showering and laundry combined. NASA-published research led by Cristina Milesi estimated about 40 million acres of US lawn in a 2005 study, roughly three times the area of irrigated corn. That is a 2005 estimate and should be read that way, but the direction is clear: watering is the largest controllable input.
  • Use integrated pest management. EPA describes integrated pest management as combining methods to manage pest damage with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. It starts with a healthy lawn and treats specific problems, rather than spraying on a calendar.

Standing water, thick mulch against the foundation, and overwatered beds also invite pests. Our guide on keeping roaches out of your yard covers how landscape moisture affects what reaches your walls.

When To Hire Help

Hire a professional when you have a large or sloped lawn, a persistent weed or disease problem you cannot identify, or a need for restricted-use pesticides, which only certified applicators may apply. Get at least two written estimates that list the services, the frequency, and the products. Do not sign on the spot for a door-to-door offer, and do not pay in full before the work is done.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the lawn care market size?

There is no official single number. Census data puts US landscaping services, the closest category, near $133 billion to $149 billion in 2022, counting employer and nonemployer businesses. Private global estimates for lawn care range from $47.8 billion (services only, 2024) to $143.3 billion (services and products, 2025).

What is the CAGR of the lawn care market?

The private forecasts we opened range from 4.2% to 6.89% a year, depending on scope and time period. Census revenue for landscaping services grew about 10% a year from 2013 to 2022, but that is nominal growth that includes price increases.

Why did the old $296 billion figure disappear?

It was a landscaping-services figure from a report we could not open, and we could not confirm its scope or that it measured lawn care. Rather than repeat it, we replaced it with sources we could check.

Is the lawn care industry growing?

By Census measures, yes. Employer revenue, payroll, and establishments all increased between 2019 and 2022 or 2023. Higher prices explain part of the revenue growth.

Should I hire a lawn care company or do it myself?

If your lawn is small and healthy, mowing high, leaving clippings, and watering correctly cover most needs. Hire help for large lots, slopes, or problems that require certified pesticide application. Either way, follow product labels exactly.

Sources

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