Cost of a Christmas tree

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a plump tree, which is why American households will be going all out this year, spending almost $2 billion on real Christmas trees in 2024, according to an analysis by finder.com. This amount is up from the $1.6 billion spent in 2023.

Cost of a Christmas tree quick facts

The research, which analyzed National Christmas Tree Association survey data back to 2009, found that roughly 43% of American households will buy a tree in 2024, with consumers spending on average $79.31 on Christmas trees — about $4 more than they spent in 2023.

In recent years, fake tree sales overtook real Christmas trees, no doubt in part due to real Christmas tree shortages between 2016 and 2019, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Where will Americans be picking up real trees?

As far as buying real trees, about a third of Americans (25%) got their hands dirty and opted for a choose-and-cut Christmas tree in 2023, which was down 6 percentage points from 2022 (31%). We are forecasting that this number will hit 26% in 2024.

The next most popular option for buying a real Christmas tree in 2023 was at a chain store (21%), up 4 percentage points from 2022 (17%). In 2024, we see this number heading up to 24%.

Buying a Christmas tree at a nursery or garden center (16%) was the third most popular choice for consumers in 2023, which was way down from the 19% who said the same in 2022. We expect 2024 to follow 2023’s trend and hold at 16%.

Christmas tree fun facts

How much do you know about Christmas trees? Chances are, not a whole lot. Don’t be a sap. Branch out and broaden your knowledge with some fern facts about the Christmas tree.

• In 2024, the White House Christmas tree was picked from the Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in Newland, NC.
• Most Christmas trees in America are grown in Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.
• The average real Christmas tree buyer in 2023 was 42 years old.
• Most Christmas trees are between six and seven feet tall and can take up to 15 years to reach that height.
• The 2024 tree at NYC’s Rockefeller Center is 70 years old, 74 feet tall and weighs an estimated 11 tons. It is adorned with more than 50,000 lights and topped with a 900-pound star with 70 spikes covered in 3 million Swarovski crystals.

• Methodology

  Methodology

  We used data from the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) based on 2009-2023 survey results to forecast 2024 national spending on Christmas trees. The average spend for real Christmas trees in 2020 was forecast from NCTA’s survey findings from 2009 to 2019. The average spend for artificial Christmas trees in 2020 was forecast from NCTA’s survey findings from 2016-2018.

  The total amount expected to be spent in 2024 was determined by adding the estimated total amount expected to be spent on real trees and the estimated total amount expected to be spent on fake trees.

  Additional Christmas tree fun facts were sourced from the NFTA and Hunt’s Christmas trees.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Holly Jennings as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Richard Laycock

Lead Editor & Insights Editor

Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based lead editor & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU). See full bio