Labor

Pa.: The Tree Farm State | The Numbers Racket

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the state boasts 1,400 Christmas tree farms, producing nearly one million cut trees annually

By: Cassie Miller - December 20, 2021 6:30 am

Real Christmas trees are recyclable and renewable resources that clean the water and air and provide important habitat for wildlife. Buying a real Christmas tree every year also supports local growers, which is good for the local economy (CBF photo).

If you buy a live Christmas tree to display in your home, well, the clock’s ticking.

Lucky for you, you reside in Pennsylvania, which just so happens to rank third in the nation for the number of Christmas tree farms.

Let’s take a look at the data:

National Statistics

In 2017, the most recent year for which data were available, there were 15,008 tree farms in the United States, occupying more than 295,000 acres of land for production, according to data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Pennsylvania Tree Stats

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the state boasts 1,400 Christmas tree farms, producing nearly one million cut trees annually.

The total amount of acreage devoted to Christmas tree farming in Pennsylvania? 31,000 acres!

Tree Buyers

According to data compiled by the National Christmas Tree Association, an organization representing the Christmas tree industry, The average age of live tree customers in 2020 was 38; four years younger than the average age of buyers in 2019.

Likewise, 2020 saw an 8 percent increase in farm-grown tree purchases from urban residents compared to 2019. The NCTA reports that 40 percent of all live tree buyers in 2020 lived in urban areas.

This map can help you find Christmas tree farms near you.

Here’s how you can support Pa. farmers this fall | Five for the Weekend

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

Cassie Miller

A native Pennsylvanian, Cassie Miller worked for various publications across the Midstate before joining the team at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. In her previous roles, she has covered everything from local sports to the financial services industry.