When it comes to the lawn care industry, America absolutely dominates in size and scope. Obviously, we see the industry up close by providing lawn care in Austin, Orlando, Washington DC, and elsewhere. Surprising as it is, many other countries would find it ridiculous to pay a professional to do their lawn. In general, many countries simply don’t put as much pride in their lawns as Americans do. Well, a lush green lawn is part of the American dream.
According to IBISWorld’s Landscaping Services market research report, these are the statistics for the US lawn care market in 2014:
- Revenue: $75 billion
- Annual Growth from 2010-2015: 3.4%
- Employment: 971,013
- Businesses: 481,886
The country with the next largest lawn care industry is Australia. There was no available statistic specifically for landscaping/lawn care, but their IBISWorld report, their Garden industry is worth $3 billion.
Still a large market, but no where near America’s $75 billion lawn care market.
Lawn Care in America
The dream of this continent is expressed in lawns.
–Michael Dean, In Search of the Perfect Lawn
As mentioned, the American perspective on lawn care is different than the rest of the world’s. Americans view their lawn with pride. Behind family, a home is as much a symbol of the American dream as anything else. Americans can devote a large amount of time tending to their lawns, up to 8-10 hours from people we’ve talked to.
In addition, lawns can bring on neighborly competition at a surprising level. It makes sense on a superficial level – humans are competitive and your lawn is the most visible aspect of your home. Suddenly, everyone in the neighborhood is fighting to have the greenest and most vibrant lawn.
Lawn Care Around The World
It’s not really like that in the rest of the world. Not only does the rest of the world (aside from Australia and a bit of the UK) lack a lawn care industry, but there are simply no high-valence emotions when it comes to lawn care. To most world citizens, it is simply a strip of grass in front of their flat.
As our German CTO explained, “What? No – nobody hires lawn care service in Germany. We just do it ourselves, and we don’t spend much time thinking about it!”
