NC among states that grow the most Christmas trees

RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) - O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches!

Whether you like to string yours with white lights and elegant ornaments or decorate with colorful lights and sparkling tinsel, Americans decorate more than 32 million Christmas trees a year- many of which came from the Tar Heel state!

In fact, North Carolina is second only to Oregon for states that grow the most Christmas trees.

The North Carolina Fraser fir has been judged the nation’s best through a contest sponsored by the National Christmas Tree Association and chosen for the official White House Christmas tree 13 times, that’s more than any other species, according to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association. Its so popular, its shipped to every state in the US, the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and so far as Japan!

Zippia aggregated data from the National Christmas Tree Association and found that North Carolina had more than 6,500 Christmas tree jobs and paid out more than $234,072,000 in wages.

Oregon harvests over 6.4 million trees a year, and North Carolina comes in at harvesting more than 4.2 million. The next state on the list, Michigan, only beings in 1.7 million. The top three states harvest 72 percent of all Christmas trees on the market, Zippia notes.

Copyright 2019 WECT. All rights reserved.