Commercial floriculture spans greenhouse plants, bedding plants, cut flowers, florist greens, and propagative materials. The USDA figures show a $6.71 billion U.S. floriculture industry in 2024, alongside a broad national base of producers and a separate 2022 picture of flower farms and imports.
Commercial floriculture production statistics at a glance
- 11,262 producers were counted in the United States in 2024.
- $6.71 billion was the total U.S. floriculture sales value in 2024.
- 969 million square feet was the 2024 covered production area.
- 7,535 operations had hired workers in 2024.
- $2,550.1 million came from annual bedding and garden plants among qualifying operations.
- $1.134 billion made Florida the leading state by 2024 floriculture sales.
- Nearly $763 million was the value of U.S.-grown cut flowers and florist greens in 2022.
These figures come from two different USDA sources and measurement periods. The 2024 commercial floriculture figures are from 2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, while the 2022 flower-farm and trade figures are from 2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation.
Contents
- U.S. production and sales in 2024
- Employment and operation scale
- Sales by plant category
- States leading commercial floriculture
- Cut flowers and florist greens
- Protected culture, open fields, and imports
U.S. production and sales in 2024
The 2024 USDA NASS snapshot places U.S. floriculture production at 11,262 producers. That was 1,046 higher than the 10,216 producers recorded in 2023, making the producer count one of the clearest year-over-year changes in the USDA data. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
Total U.S. floriculture sales reached $6.71 billion in 2024. The USDA report reports that this total increased by less than 1% from 2023, so the sales market was comparatively stable even as the producer count rose. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
Covered production also expanded. The reported area rose from 851 million square feet in 2023 to 969 million square feet in 2024. These are covered-production figures for the stated years; they should not be treated as open-field acreage or as a measure of sales by themselves. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
The 2024 data also distinguish the national total from the states published individually. The 28 individually published states had 9,456 floriculture producers in 2024, up 6% from 8,887 in 2023. Those states generated $6.32 billion in floriculture sales, with the 28-state total also increasing by less than 1% from 2023 to 2024. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
| 2024 U.S. floriculture measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| All U.S. producers | 11,262 |
| Total U.S. sales | $6.71 billion |
| Covered production area | 969 million sq. ft. |
| Producers in 28 individually published states | 9,456 |
| Sales in 28 individually published states | $6.32 billion |
The comparison is useful because the national and 28-state totals are not interchangeable. The source presents the first as the U.S. total and the second as the combined result for states published individually.
Employment and operation scale
Commercial floriculture is also a labor-intensive production activity in the USDA 2024 figures. There were 7,535 U.S. floriculture operations with hired workers in 2024. The number of operations with hired workers increased 15% from 2023 to 2024. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
The average peak number of hired workers was 15 per floriculture operation in 2024. That average was down from 16 workers per operation in 2023. The two measures describe different aspects of employment: the first is the number of operations with hired workers, while the second is the average peak staffing level per operation. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
Fast facts about staffing
- 7,535 operations had hired workers in 2024.
- The count of operations with hired workers rose 15% from 2023 to 2024.
- Average peak hired workers per operation were 15 in 2024.
- The comparable 2023 average was 16 per operation.
Together, these statistics show a larger count of operations with hired workers alongside a lower reported average peak number per operation. The published figures do not provide a reason for that combination, so it should be read as a description of the measured results rather than as an explanation of the labor trend.
Sales by plant category
Among operations with at least $100,000 in sales, annual bedding and garden plants were the largest listed 2024 category at $2,550.1 million. Potted flowering plants followed at $1,254.8 million, while indoor and patio foliage plants generated $928.4 million. Herbaceous perennial plants generated $896.1 million. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
| Plant category | 2024 sales |
|---|---|
| Annual bedding and garden plants | $2,550.1 million |
| Potted flowering plants | $1,254.8 million |
| Indoor and patio foliage plants | $928.4 million |
| Herbaceous perennial plants | $896.1 million |
| Cut flowers | $414.0 million |
| Propagative floriculture materials | $316.4 million |
| Cut cultivated greens | $75.6 million |
The remaining categories show how commercial floriculture extends beyond finished flowering plants. Cut flowers generated $414.0 million, propagative floriculture materials generated $316.4 million, and cut cultivated greens generated $75.6 million in 2024 sales among the same qualifying operations. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
For floral design guides, the category mix is especially relevant because it separates finished consumer-facing plant products from materials used in production and design. The source reports the sales values, but it does not supply a complete explanation of how each category moved through retail, wholesale, or design channels. The figures therefore work best as production-market benchmarks.
States leading commercial floriculture
The state operation counts show a broad group of large production bases. Michigan had 1,043 floriculture operations in 2024, the largest count among the states listed by USDA. California had 806, Florida had 740, Pennsylvania had 721, and Ohio had 664. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
New York had 575 operations, Wisconsin had 530, Indiana had 342, North Carolina had 327, and Illinois had 325. These counts describe operations, not sales, so a state with more operations does not automatically rank first by total sales. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
| State | 2024 floriculture operations |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 1,043 |
| California | 806 |
| Florida | 740 |
| Pennsylvania | 721 |
| Ohio | 664 |
| New York | 575 |
| Wisconsin | 530 |
| Indiana | 342 |
| North Carolina | 327 |
| Illinois | 325 |
Sales rankings look different. Florida led state floriculture sales at $1.134 billion in 2024, followed by California at $1.032 billion. Michigan recorded $577 million, North Carolina recorded $369 million, and New Jersey recorded $356 million. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
Texas recorded $318 million, Ohio recorded $242 million, New York recorded $235 million, Virginia recorded $186 million, and Pennsylvania recorded $168 million. The distinction between operation counts and sales values is central when interpreting state commercial floriculture production statistics. (2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2024)
Cut flowers and florist greens
The USDA ERS 2022 source provides a separate view centered on flowers and greens grown for florists. U.S.-grown cut flowers and florist greens were valued at nearly $763 million in 2022. About 10,800 U.S. commercial farms grew flowers and greens for florists in that year. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2022)
The number of commercial farms growing flowers and florist greens in 2022 was more than 50% higher than in the 2017 census. Commercial flower farms were present in all 50 U.S. states in 2022. These figures use the census period identified by the source and are not a replacement for the 2024 NASS floriculture producer count. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2017–2022 and 2022)
The same source reports that domestic U.S. cut-flower sales increased by $90 million from the 2017 census to the 2022 census, without inflation adjustment. That qualification matters: the change is a nominal dollar increase as reported, not an inflation-adjusted growth measure. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2017–2022)
Protected culture, open fields, and imports
The 2022 census data describe both protected and outdoor production. U.S. growers reported more than 158 million square feet of protected-culture flower and florist-green production in 2022. They also grew flowers on more than 31,000 acres in the open. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2022)
Open-field U.S. flower acreage increased 33% between the 2017 and 2022 censuses. This is a different measure from the 2024 NASS covered production area of 969 million square feet: one describes open-field flower acreage in the 2022 census, while the other describes covered floriculture production in 2024. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2017–2022; 2024 Floriculture Crops Highlights, 2023–2024)
Trade adds another dimension. U.S. cut-flower imports were valued at $1.9 billion in 2022, and the value of those imports increased by $783 million between 2017 and 2022. Those import values are trade figures from 2022 and should be kept distinct from domestic producer sales and U.S.-grown cut-flower values. (2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation, 2017–2022 and 2022)
For readers interpreting commercial floriculture production statistics, the key distinctions are the measurement year, geography, production setting, and market boundary. The 2024 NASS figures cover U.S. floriculture producers, operations, categories, and states; the 2022 ERS figures cover flower farms, florist greens, open-field and protected-culture production, domestic cut-flower sales, and imports.