Hydroponics was a substantial part of protected food production recorded in the United States in 2019. The USDA counted 2,994 protected-food operations using 88,943 thousand square feet of protected area. Those operations produced 7,856,801 cwt, including 4,221,751 cwt from hydroponic systems. The figures below come primarily from the USDA’s Table 15. Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019; Puerto Rico figures come from its 2018 hydroponic-crops table.
Contents
- U.S. protected-food baseline
- Cucumbers and fresh-cut herbs
- Lettuce and peppers
- Strawberries and tomatoes
- Other protected food crops
- Puerto Rico hydroponic benchmarks
U.S. protected-food baseline
The 2019 USDA table provides a broad view of protected agriculture before breaking the totals into individual crops. Operations reported $703,469 thousand in total sales. Wholesale sales accounted for $512,758 thousand, while retail sales accounted for $190,711 thousand. These are reported sales values in thousands of dollars, not a current-market estimate or a forecast.
| U.S. protected-food measure | 2019 value |
|---|---|
| Operations | 2,994 |
| Protected area | 88,943 thousand sq. ft. |
| Total production | 7,856,801 cwt |
| Hydroponic-system production | 4,221,751 cwt |
| Total sales | $703,469 thousand |
| Wholesale sales | $512,758 thousand |
| Retail sales | $190,711 thousand |
The production unit is hundredweight, abbreviated cwt. The USDA reports the protected area in thousand square feet and sales in thousand dollars, so the original units matter when comparing categories. The source covers food crops grown under protection and sold in 2019; it does not describe every form of indoor growing or provide a general forecast for the hydroponics industry. USDA, Table 15: Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019
For readers comparing systems, the hydroponic-production column is a reported subset within each protected-crop category. It should be read alongside the category’s total production, area, and sales rather than treated as a standalone industry total.
Cucumbers and fresh-cut herbs
Protected cucumber production involved 1,003 operations and 6,337 thousand square feet in 2019. Total production was 510,300 cwt, of which 340,153 cwt came from hydroponic systems. Cucumber sales reached $45,691 thousand. Wholesale sales were $40,192 thousand and retail sales were $5,499 thousand.
Fresh-cut herbs involved 700 protected operations and 10,685 thousand square feet. The category produced 326,309 cwt in total, including 73,598 cwt from hydroponic systems. Reported sales were $65,153 thousand, divided between $40,996 thousand in wholesale sales and $24,157 thousand in retail sales.
| Category | Operations | Protected area (000 sq. ft.) | Total production (cwt) | Hydroponic production (cwt) | Sales ($000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cucumbers | 1,003 | 6,337 | 510,300 | 340,153 | 45,691 |
| Fresh-cut herbs | 700 | 10,685 | 326,309 | 73,598 | 65,153 |
The two categories show different relationships between protected area, output, and reported sales. Cucumbers had the larger total and hydroponic production totals in this comparison, while fresh-cut herbs had more protected area and higher reported sales despite lower production. Those observations describe the USDA’s separate category totals; they do not establish prices, profitability, or productivity across individual farms. USDA, Table 15: Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019
Lettuce and peppers
Protected lettuce production involved 1,042 operations using 5,531 thousand square feet in 2019. Total lettuce production reached 551,716 cwt, with 363,885 cwt attributed to hydroponic systems. The category reported $71,129 thousand in sales: $49,008 thousand wholesale and $22,122 thousand retail.
Protected pepper production involved 745 operations and 2,481 thousand square feet. The category produced 110,739 cwt, including 3,454 cwt from hydroponic systems. Reported pepper sales totaled $8,577 thousand, made up of $6,055 thousand in wholesale sales and $2,521 thousand in retail sales.
| Category | Operations | Protected area (000 sq. ft.) | Total production (cwt) | Hydroponic production (cwt) | Sales ($000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettuce | 1,042 | 5,531 | 551,716 | 363,885 | 71,129 |
| Peppers | 745 | 2,481 | 110,739 | 3,454 | 8,577 |
Lettuce therefore appears in the 2019 table as both a sizeable protected crop and a crop with a large hydroponic-production count. The pepper figures are much smaller for hydroponic production than for total protected production. The table does not explain why the crop categories differ, and these figures should not be used to infer a universal hydroponic share for all pepper farms or growing systems. USDA, Table 15: Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019
Strawberries and tomatoes
Protected strawberry production was reported by 161 operations using 659 thousand square feet in 2019. Total production was 11,792 cwt, including 1,837 cwt from hydroponic systems. Sales totaled $937 thousand. Retail sales, at $681 thousand, exceeded wholesale sales of $256 thousand in the table.
Tomatoes were the largest crop category in this set by both protected area and reported production. The USDA counted 2,205 protected tomato operations using 52,576 thousand square feet. Total tomato production reached 4,165,635 cwt, of which 2,533,489 cwt came from hydroponic systems. Tomato sales totaled $345,025 thousand, including $253,332 thousand in wholesale sales and $91,693 thousand in retail sales.
| Category | Operations | Protected area (000 sq. ft.) | Total production (cwt) | Hydroponic production (cwt) | Sales ($000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberries | 161 | 659 | 11,792 | 1,837 | 937 |
| Tomatoes | 2,205 | 52,576 | 4,165,635 | 2,533,489 | 345,025 |
The contrast is large: the tomato category contains thousands of operations and millions of hundredweight, while strawberries are represented by a much smaller protected category in the same 2019 table. The figures are category totals for protected food crops sold during that period. They are not a time series, and they should not be interpreted as evidence that every tomato or strawberry producer uses hydroponics. USDA, Table 15: Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019
Other protected food crops
The USDA also reported an “other protected food crops” category in 2019. It involved 1,005 operations using 10,674 thousand square feet. Total production was 2,180,310 cwt, including 905,334 cwt from hydroponic systems.
Reported sales for these other protected food crops totaled $166,957 thousand. Wholesale sales were $122,919 thousand and retail sales were $44,038 thousand. Because the category groups crops together, it is useful for describing the scale of production outside the named crop categories, but it cannot identify which individual crops produced the reported totals.
Across the USDA categories listed here, the most useful comparisons keep the measurement type and period fixed: operations, protected area, total cwt, hydroponic-system cwt, and reported sales all refer to 2019. The source does not provide a later annual update in the figures summarized here, so no trend should be inferred from these numbers alone. USDA, Table 15: Food Crops Grown Under Protection and Sold: 2019
Puerto Rico hydroponic benchmarks
Puerto Rico provides a separate geographic benchmark from the 2018 USDA table on hydroponic crops. Hydroponic crops involved 219 farms and generated $8,701,107 in reported sales in 2018. These figures are for Puerto Rico and should not be combined with the U.S. protected-food totals above, which refer to 2019 and use a different table and reporting context.
The Puerto Rico lettuce figures are more specific. Hydroponic lettuce production involved 117 farms and totaled 3,031,768 pounds in 2018. The unit here is pounds, not hundredweight, so it is not directly interchangeable with the U.S. cwt values without a unit conversion. The Puerto Rico table also includes a 2012 comparison column, but the supplied figures used here are the 2018 benchmarks.
| Puerto Rico hydroponic measure | 2018 value |
|---|---|
| Hydroponic-crop farms | 219 |
| Reported hydroponic-crop sales | $8,701,107 |
| Hydroponic lettuce farms | 117 |
| Hydroponic lettuce production | 3,031,768 pounds |
The Puerto Rico results add a distinct island-level reference point to the mainland protected-crop statistics. They measure hydroponic crops and hydroponic lettuce specifically, whereas the U.S. table organizes its national figures around protected food crops and identifies production from hydroponic systems within those categories. USDA, Table 18: Hydroponic Crops: 2018 and 2012