Landscaping Industry Statistics (2026): Market Size, Payroll & State Data

Editorial corrections verified September 15, 2026. Fixed 2026 edition: CBP 2023, population 2024, NES 2023, and business applications Aug-2025 through Jul-2026.

How big is the US landscaping industry? As of Census County Business Patterns 2023, the United States has 117,969 employer establishments in this category employing 802,899 people, with combined annual payroll of $41.2 billion. This page compiles market size, state distribution, payroll measures, nonemployer activity where published, and broader-sector business applications — every number sourced to federal data, with the limits below.

Census County Business Patterns counts employer establishments in Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730), not every landscaping business and not firms. An establishment is a business location; one firm can operate more than one.

Figures in the market-size tables cover employer establishments in Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730) — business locations with at least one paid employee, not “firms.” Solo landscapers without payroll are counted separately in the solo operators section below.

Key Landscaping Industry Statistics

• There are 117,969 employer establishments in this Census category in the United States (County Business Patterns, 2023).
• Employer establishments are the minority form: 516,572 solo landscapers operate as nonemployer businesses (2023 Census Nonemployer Statistics) — 4.4 for every employer establishment.
• Those establishments employ 802,899 people with combined annual payroll of $41.2 billion.
• Annual payroll divided by March employment averages $51,286 per employee per year (includes part-time staff and all occupations in the category — not an occupational wage or FTE salary). The average establishment has 6.8 employees and $349k in annual payroll.
• Florida has the most establishments of any state — 10,670, or 9.0% of the national total.
• Relative to population, Vermont has the highest employer-establishment density (80.3 per 100,000 residents) and District of Columbia the lowest (3.1). Density is not the same as local opportunity or saturation of every competitor.
• Payroll per March employee is highest in Massachusetts ($74,736) and lowest in District of Columbia ($33,561).
• The category accounts for 1.41% of all US employer establishments.
• Americans filed 422,124 business applications in the broader Administrative & Support and Waste Management sector (NAICS56) in the twelve months from Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 — a +16.3% change year over year (Census Business Formation Statistics). Those are sector-wide applications, not completed employer formations and not counts limited to this 6-digit industry.
• sole prop net profit by state
• employer credit access (ABS)

Market Size

The Biggest States

Market size is not the same as local opportunity. Relative to population, Vermont has the highest employer-establishment density (80.3 per 100,000 residents) while District of Columbia has the lowest (3.1). Density omits nonemployers and does not measure contracts, service radius, or competitors serving the same customers. We publish a separate screening index with its own methodology caveats: Best States to Start a Landscaping Business.

Payroll by State

Compare selected heat-targeted industry payroll footprints alongside industry statistics. The study reports broad Q1 2026 industry families from the April OSHA heat-program list and the usual private-sector enforcement route; it does not measure summer staffing, heat exposure or program impact.

For a separate workforce measure, see landscaping injury and illness benchmarks. The 2024 BLS figures use cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, with work-disruption rates and sampling uncertainty shown separately from business and payroll counts.

These figures are annual industry payroll divided by March employment for employer establishments in the category. They include part-time employees and all occupations on the payroll. They are not BLS occupational wage quotes, technician/stylist pay rates, or complete hiring costs.

Solo Operators: The Nonemployer Side of the Industry

For state-level nonemployer establishment shares in landscaping and peer services (2023 NES + CBP), see nonemployer share by state. Shares vary by tens of percentage points within the same industry.

For private QCEW average annual pay and employees per establishment by state (2024), see employer pay and location size by state.

For quarterly employment swings (peak vs trough and Q3 vs Q1) in private landscaping payroll jobs — distinct from annual pay — see landscaping seasonal employment by state.

For year-over-year landscaping (and peer service) hiring versus state unemployment rates, see unemployment vs service hiring by state. For whether landscaping payroll growth tracks state house-price booms (FRED HPI × QCEW), see home prices vs home-services employment. For OpenFEMA Public Assistance and Individual Assistance dollars by state (recovery context, not contractor revenue), see FEMA disaster dollars by state. Related: personal income vs business formation — BEA income growth vs Census applications by state.

For a same-year business-count comparison, compare landscaping with other service industries. The study uses 2022 employer firms rather than locations and separates business-count shares from revenue shares. Nonemployer status does not establish that an owner works alone.

The employer figures above are only part of the picture. The Census Bureau counts businesses with no paid employees separately, as nonemployers — and in this industry they are the majority: 516,572 solo landscapers filed as nonemployer businesses in 2023, about 4.4 for every employer establishment. Together they took in $18.6 billion in receipts — an average of $36,041 per solo business per year.

States With the Most Solo Landscapers

Solo operation is highest relative to employers in Mississippi (16.0 nonemployers per employer establishment) and lowest in New Jersey (1.4), where a larger share of the industry runs on payroll.

How Much Do Landscaping Businesses Make?

The honest federal answer comes in two parts. For solo operators, the Census reports actual revenue: the average nonemployer landscaping business grossed $36,041 in annual receipts in 2023 — gross revenue before expenses, not take-home income. For employer establishments, the Census does not publish revenue at the state level, but payroll gives the scale: the average establishment carries $349k in annual payroll across 6.8 employees.

Where Solo Landscapers Gross the Most

States with fewer than 1,000 nonemployer businesses excluded to avoid small-sample noise. Receipts are gross revenue as reported to the IRS, before any expenses.

New Business Formation

The Census Bureau tracks new business applications (Business Formation Statistics). In the twelve months from Aug-2025 through Jul-2026, Americans filed 422,124 applications in the Administrative & Support and Waste Management sector (NAICS56 — the broader 2-digit sector that contains this industry) — a +16.3% change from the prior twelve months. Applications are not completed employer formations, state LLC registrations, or measured growth in this 6-digit industry alone. State-by-state application counts, per-capita rates, and trends are on our business formation statistics page. For how new ventures fare once launched — 1-, 5-, and 10-year odds in every state — see business survival rates by state; for what they borrow to get started, SBA loan statistics. For insurance requirements state by state, see the landscaping business insurance guide. In recent Census surveys, 21.2% of administrative and support businesses, the group that includes landscaping companies, used AI; see small-business AI use by industry.

If you add an AI chat or phone assistant for quotes and booking, check AI chatbot laws by state first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many landscaping business businesses are there in the US?

There are 117,969 employer establishments in this Census category in the United States as of the 2023 County Business Patterns, employing 802,899 people. Figures in the market-size tables cover employer establishments in Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730) — business locations with at least one paid employee, not “firms.” Solo landscapers without payroll are counted separately in the solo operators section below.

How big is the US landscaping industry?

Measured by payroll, employer establishments in the category pay $41.2 billion in annual payroll across 802,899 employees — $51,286 when annual payroll is divided by March employment. That ratio is not an occupational wage quote or full-time-equivalent salary.

Which state has the most landscaping business businesses?

Florida leads with 10,670 employer establishments (9.0% of the US total), followed by California (9,393) and New York (7,725).

How many self-employed solo landscapers are there in the US?

The Census Bureau’s 2023 Nonemployer Statistics count 516,572 operations with no paid employees in this category — solo landscapers operating alone — averaging $36,041 in annual receipts. That is about 4.4 solo businesses for every employer establishment.

How much does a landscaping business make?

For solo operators the Census reports actual revenue: the average nonemployer landscaping business grossed $36,041 in 2023 — gross receipts before expenses, not profit. Employer establishments are larger on payroll: the average establishment carries $349k in annual payroll across 6.8 employees; the Census does not publish their revenue at the state level.

Related: fuel costs for mobile landscaping fleets — EIA PAD/state pump prices with hypothetical landscaping gallon scenarios (Sep 2026).

Diesel hit a record $6.53 a gallon the week of Sep 21, 2026. At that price, a diesel crew truck driven 25,000 miles a year burns about $13,602 in fuel. See your state’s price in diesel and gas prices by state.

Related research: SBA $3M loan size-band exposure ahead of Oct 1 SOP 50 10 8.1 — FOIA GrossApproval ≥ $3M counts by industry and state (size-band proxy only; not a QoE deal count).

Related research: Proposed SBA size standards for service industries (comments due Sep 21, 2026) — verified NPRM table for landscaping, cleaning, HVAC, daycare, salons & mobile food (proposed, not final).

Related research: landscaping labor density by state — OEWS groundskeeping location quotients, not CBP establishment counts.

Sources & Citation

Definitions: CBP establishments, employment and payroll; BFS applications versus formations; NAICS industry scope. Business structures: SBA business-structure guidance.

You are welcome to cite these statistics with attribution and a link to this page. The editorial correction date does not mean the Census inputs were advanced past the fixed edition above.