California Is The Only State With 4 Official Varieties Of Nuts. Here's What They Are

Along with having the fourth largest economy in the entire world, California is a major player in the global agriculture business. Not only does California produce most of the country's nuts, they also grow almost 100% of table grapes eaten in the United States, along with over 90% of the tomatoes in the U.S. that are used for processing. The state's Mediterranean climate makes it the ideal location for growing a diverse range of crops, so much so that California was altered to become a world-leader in agriculture. The production of tree nuts is so essential to California's economy that the Golden State has not one, but four, official state nuts: almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans. 

It's difficult to overstate how massive almond production is in California. About 80% of all the almonds in the entire world are grown and processed in California. In the 2023 to 2024 crop year, California produced 2,446,000,000 pounds of almonds, and that number is forecasted to increase in the following crop year. Despite the gargantuan amount of almonds grown in California, they were ranked only 5th amongst the state's top 10 valued commodities, behind dairy, grapes, cattle, and lettuce. The billions of pounds of almonds are sold domestically, exported around the world, and used in an ever-increasingly popular dairy-free products like almonds milk. Almonds are among some of the top foods impacted by climate change, but the good news is that the almond industry is trying to become more sustainable.

Walnuts, popular for their omega-3s and antioxidants linked to brain health, are another incredibly lucrative and important California crop. There were over 400,000 acres of walnut trees in California in 2024, despite a lower yield in the same year compared to past growing seasons due to weather, they still produced 603,000 tons of walnuts. California walnuts are exported all over the world, with Germany importing the most walnuts consistently over the last five years. 

Most of the country's pistachios come from California, although the nuts are also grown in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The amount of pistachios grown in California is only expected to increase in the next five years due to newer trees and orchards maturing. As of March 2025, pistachio trees now eclipse walnut trees in acreage, at 22% compared to walnut's 16%. Almonds still overshadow both tree nuts at a whopping 62% of tree nut-bearing acreage. 

Pecans are the only type of tree nut that is native to the United States, and a healthy pecan tree can flower and produce nuts for a staggering 300 years. Pecans are sometimes referred to as "the other nut," as the production of pecans is vastly overshadowed by the other "big three" nuts almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. Such massive nut production requires an unfathomable amount of water in a state that is notoriously almost in a constant state of drought.