Pumpkin production is widely dispersed throughout the United States, with crop conditions varying by region. All U.S. States produce some pumpkins, but the top 5 States produce over 67 percent of them. Every year, USDA surveys the top pumpkin-producing States and publishes the data the following year.
In 2024, total U.S. pumpkin production reached 1.44 billion pounds, falling slightly below the 2020–2023 4-year average of 1.58 billion pounds. Farmers in the top 5 pumpkin-producing States harvested close to 1 billion pounds of pumpkins combined in 2024. Leading in pumpkin acreage harvested and yield, Illinois produced about 485 million pounds in 2024, roughly equivalent to the combined output of the other 4 most productive States. California, Michigan, and Pennsylvania each produced just under 110 million pounds, while Indiana produced about 160 million pounds.
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In 2024, the total U.S. pumpkin acreage was 68,900 acres. Illinois maintained its leading position in pumpkin acreage, harvesting more than twice as many pumpkin acres as any of the other top States, at 15,400 acres. In the same year—California, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—each harvested between 4,700 and 7,100 acres.
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U.S. pumpkin production serves two primary markets: the fresh and ornamental market, and the processing market. The fresh/ornamental market includes pumpkins sold for decorative purposes—particularly during the fall season—as well as for direct consumption. In contrast, the processing market targets pumpkin varieties that are intended for food applications such as canning and pureeing. The pumpkins sold in the processing market are primarily used in products like pie fillings, soups, and other prepared foods.
According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, approximately 85 percent of U.S. pumpkin-producing acreage was allocated to the fresh and ornamental market. This pattern was consistent across most pumpkin-producing States, with Illinois being an exception. In Illinois, nearly 70 percent of pumpkin acreage was devoted to processing, compared to roughly 3 percent in Pennsylvania and even smaller shares in Indiana and California.
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According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, more than 15,000 farms across the United States produced fresh market pumpkins, with operations broadly distributed among the States. New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan each reported more than 1,000 such farms, while Ohio and Wisconsin recorded between 960 and 970 farms. In contrast, farms specializing in processing pumpkins were more geographically concentrated. Illinois led this category, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the nation’s 959 processing pumpkin farms.
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Pumpkin yields vary substantially among States and over years within a State, depending on pumpkin varieties and growing conditions. On average for the period 2021–24, Illinois grew about 38,000 pounds per acre of pumpkin (predominantly pie varieties for processing into products like pumpkin puree). California grows about 27,000 pounds per acre on average, Indiana about 24,000, Michigan about 19,000, and Pennsylvania about 15,000 pumpkin pounds per acre. Pumpkin yield can fluctuate each year, rounded to the nearest hundred acres—from a decrease of up to 13,500 pounds per acre in Illinois from 2023 to 2024, to virtually no change in Indiana over the same period.
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Annual U.S. per capita availability of pumpkins averaged about 6 pounds over 2021 to 2024, compared to about 4 pounds over 2001 to 2004. This measurement includes both fresh and processing markets and is converted to a fresh farm-weight basis. From 2001 to 2024, per capita availability of fresh pumpkins has generally trended upward. Reduced pumpkin availability in 2015 corresponded to a drop in domestic production, due in large part to the effects of poor weather on Illinois pumpkin production. Pumpkin availability rebounded in 2016 and was 5.1 pounds per person in 2024.
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All States see year-to-year changes in the price of pumpkins received by growers. In 2024, among the 5 top producing States, Pennsylvania received the highest price for its pumpkins, at about $296 per 1,000 pounds. California and Indiana received prices close to $260 per 1,000 pounds each in 2024, while Michigan’s pumpkin price was lower at around $162 per 1,000 pounds. These prices reflect all utilization types, including both fresh and processing markets. Illinois growers primarily produce pumpkins for processing, which are typically priced lower than fresh market varieties, such as jack-o’-lantern pumpkins. As a result, Illinois reported the lowest average price in 2024, at $43 per 1,000 pounds. For retail price data, refer to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Market News retail reports.
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The total U.S. pumpkin production value increased from $234 million in 2021 to $274 million in 2024. In 2024, Indiana produced the most pumpkins by value at $41 million, followed by Pennsylvania at $32 million. Between 2021 and 2024, the value of U.S. pumpkin production rose across most top-producing States—ranging from a 13 percent increase in California to 55 percent in Indiana—while Illinois saw a 10 percent decline.
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Commercial pumpkin production relies on pollinators to enhance both yield and crop quality, where growers commonly utilizing a combination of managed honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) and native bee species. The USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service conducts an annual Cost of Pollination Survey to understand the use of managed honeybees for pollinator-dependent crops, and the data are published at a regionally aggregated level.
Between 2022 and 2024, Region 1—which encompasses several top pumpkin-producing States, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—used an average of more than 8,000 managed honeybee colonies annually for pumpkin pollination. The only other publicly available data on pumpkin from the USDA Cost of Pollination Survey pertain to Region 2, which reported approximately 1,700 colonies used for pumpkin pollination in 2024 (see the figure notes for a complete list of States included in each region). Both regions saw significant increases in colony deployment between the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons, with Region 1 doubling its usage and Region 2 tripling.
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