We asked, and you delivered: More than 400 readers sent us their Christmas tree prices — and among reader submissions and data collected by our staff, we found that the average price for a Christmas tree in New York City is $116.
The cheapest was a fun-sized, 1-foot-tall tree from Trader Joe’s for $10. The priciest was a 9-foot-tall Fraser on the Upper West Side for $633. And while the prices in between are all over the map, Gothamist readers seem to agree that prices are way too high.
“Ten years ago, we were shocked that trees were $100,” said Adam Benn, an East Harlem resident. “Now we’re shocked that they’re double the price.”
If prices keep rising, Benn said, his family might go “Charlie Brown” and opt for a smaller tree. But Benn, a parent of a 12-year-old, said he can’t imagine not getting a tree. Other parents said Christmas isn’t Christmas without one. And while Benn remains loyal to his neighborhood vendor, other New Yorkers are more willing to forgo their local stands for better deals.
And for good reason: The average price for a tree at Home Depot and Lowes was about half of the overall average citywide.
Multiple Christmas tree vendors declined to be interviewed for this article. According to a survey conducted by the Real Christmas Tree Board, a research organization for tree growers, suppliers did not anticipate a short supply of trees this year. The survey also found that 84% of wholesalers did not expect to raise prices.
Lola the cat in front of her Christmas tree.
Some New Yorkers were willing to drive across boroughs or state lines for deals. The citywide average price of a 6- to 7-foot tree was $116. But in Jersey City and Long Island City, Home Depots had trees that size for $40.
Prices outside of Manhattan were generally more likely to be cheaper. The median price for a tree in Manhattan was $120, compared with $99 in Brooklyn and $75 in the Bronx.
Rebecca Holt-Gilmore, a West Harlem resident, said she saw a tree at her neighborhood stand for $225. But during one of her trips to her property in Vermont, she saw an 11-foot tree for $65. She bought three additional trees for friends and family and drove them down to the city in the bed of her husband’s truck.
Holt-Gilmore gives her husband and her kids a new ornament every Christmas that reference something that happened in the previous year. One of her sons had become obsessed with making pasta this year, so she got him an ornament with an image of a box of pasta.
“This way, when they leave home they’ll have ornaments to bring with them,” Holt-Gilmore said. “I think the trees are integral to the spirit of Christmas.”
But if prices continue rising, she worries that the iconic Christmas tree will become less obtainable for New Yorkers.
“Everyday people are getting gouged on Christmas,” she said. “It makes me sad more than anything.”
Kiley Lambert contributed reporting.
