With fewer than three weeks until Christmas, many shoppers are still hunting for the right tree — and this year a real tree may make more sense financially. At Holt Family Christmas Trees in Los Angeles, customers browse pines, firs and spruces; some lots list high-end specimens (one was marked $199.95), but industry data show typical prices are much lower. The Real Christmas Tree Board expects Americans to buy roughly 25 to 30 million real trees this season and reports the average price is still about $80 to $100, essentially unchanged from last year.
Part of the reason real trees remain competitive: rising costs for artificial trees. Most artificial trees are made overseas and face tariffs that can tack on about $10 to $15 per unit, according to the National Tree Company. By contrast, trees grown in Oregon and elsewhere in North America, including Canada, are exempt from those tariffs, which helps keep locally grown real-tree prices attractive in some markets.
Beyond price, buyers and sellers point to familiar advantages of live trees: the fresh pine scent, the joy of choosing a tree in person and the hands-on ritual of bringing a live tree home. For many families, those elements are part of holiday tradition and memory.
One policy change mentioned by a seller: the Trump administration announced that people who want to cut their own tree on federal lands can do so for a single dollar through the end of January, a move intended to make real trees more affordable for those who prefer that option.