A recent study shows that California pistachios have an economic impact on the state of more than $6.4 billion. The 2022 study was commissioned by American Pistachio Growers and conducted by Dennis H. Tootelian of the Tootelian Company of Sacramento. Economic impacts of the industry are broken down by spending for goods and services, jobs created, labor income, as well as contributions from indirect business taxes.
“The money spent by growers and processors spreads throughout the economy, creating business activity down the main streets of towns and cities across the state,” Tootelian said in a press release. “The green kernels shaken from California pistachio trees each year produce another kind of green for our economy —- thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in business taxes.”
The total economic output of California pistachios was equated to an average of more than $17.6 million per day. According to the data, grower and processor spending on farming operations totaled nearly $3.5 billion. Industry spending also helped to create 55,100 jobs on a full-time equivalent. Labor income generated through the pistachio industry totaled at nearly $3 billion.
“With every economic study of the industry, the numbers keep getting more and more impressive,” said Tootelian, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Marketing at CSU-Sacramento. “Every new pistachio seedling planted in our state’s soil turns the key of a powerful economic engine that benefits all Californians, no matter where they live.”
A 20 percent increase in bearing acreage between 2020 and 2022 was a significant contributor to the overall economic impact of the industry. Bearing acreage grew from 371,386 acres to 446,000 acres. Tootelian notes that the increase “created additional grower and processor spending of more than $513.8 million on these bearing acres.”
California pistachios also generated $98.8 million in sales taxes and $81.3 million in property taxes as a result of industry spending. Indirect business taxes generated from grower and processor spending were calculated at more than $230.9 million.
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