Pistachios crack walnuts’ long-standing spot in California’s tree nut acreage ranking

California leads the country in tree nut production, and most of the U.S. output of almonds, pistachios, and walnuts is grown there. Pistachio acreage has increased nearly fivefold in the last two decades, surpassing walnuts in 2021 to rank second in California’s tree nut bearing acres (acreage with trees mature enough to produce a harvestable crop). In 2024, California’s almond bearing acreage totaled 1.38 million, accounting for 62 percent of the State’s tree nut acreage, followed by pistachios (22 percent), and walnuts (16 percent). Pistachio bearing acres in California totaled about 488,000 in 2024, a 25,000-acre increase from the previous year. At the same time, walnut bearing acreage dropped by 4 percent in 2024 to 370,000 acres from 385,000 in 2023, marking the first time since 1951 that walnut area declined in 2 consecutive years. Although the 2024 California pistachio crop is expected to be 26 percent smaller than the record high set in 2023, it reflects an off year in alternate bearing production, a natural cycle of alternating high and low yields each year. Even so, the 2024 crop would still be the third largest on record behind 2023 and 2021. As of 2024, the United States has led the world in pistachio production 9 years in a row. This chart was drawn from the USDA, Economic Research Service’s Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, published in March 2025.