The World of Apples

Apples of United States

236 varieties in the atlas came from United States. The oldest is Roxbury Russet, dated early 17th century.

Map of where the apple varieties in the atlas came from A map of the world on the Equal Earth projection, with a dot for each variety at its place of origin.

Harvest

United States grew 4,922,840 tonnes of apples in 2024, 5.0% of the world's harvest; it ranked second among the world's producers.1

1961 2024
The figures
YearTonnes
2024 4,922,840
2023 5,203,840
2022 4,524,590
2021 4,568,810
2020 4,665,199
2019 5,028,526
2018 4,644,790
2017 5,240,670
2016 5,214,040
2015 4,556,790
2014 5,358,740
2013 4,731,694
2012 4,078,839
2011 4,281,731
2010 4,210,290
2009 4,394,267
2008 4,365,055
2007 4,122,883
2006 4,455,819
2005 4,384,832
2004 4,722,849
2003 3,982,586
2002 3,866,376
2001 4,274,201
2000 4,799,416
1999 4,822,413
1998 5,282,718
1997 4,682,797
1996 4,709,151
1995 4,798,282
1994 5,216,721
1993 4,846,680
1992 4,793,791
1991 4,402,885
1990 4,380,000
1989 4,519,000
1988 4,140,000
1987 4,872,600
1986 3,564,800
1985 3,590,000
1984 3,775,700
1983 3,800,400
1982 3,684,060
1981 3,510,620
1980 4,000,000
1979 3,685,930
1978 3,445,880
1977 3,057,015
1976 2,935,725
1975 3,415,533
1974 2,984,486
1973 2,841,741
1972 2,666,565
1971 2,890,820
1970 2,901,933
1969 3,093,302
1968 2,470,433
1967 2,451,881
1966 2,613,313
1965 2,785,146
1964 2,866,000
1963 2,609,000
1962 2,581,000
1961 2,584,000

Growing regions

  • Washington State Desert valleys east of the Cascades, watered by snowmelt rivers, that grow two-thirds of the US apple crop
  • New York State Home of the Newtown Pippin, and of the Geneva breeders who raised Cortland, Macoun, Empire and Jonagold
  • Michigan's Fruit Ridge A glacial moraine north-west of Grand Rapids, two-thirds of it in Kent County, Michigan's leading apple county

Varieties from United States, oldest first

  • Watercolour painting of Roxbury Russet apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Roxbury Russet

    Often called the oldest American apple; SNP data show the old French Reinette Franche to be one of its parents

    United States, early 17th century

  • Hewe's Crab

    Colonial Virginia's prized cider crab, recorded from 1744; the tree now grown as Virginia Crab is another apple

    United States, by the 1710s

  • Watercolour painting of Baldwin apples by James Marion Shull.

    Baldwin

    The United States' leading apple in 1909–13; the freezes of 1933–34 killed or ruined nearly two million of its trees

    United States, soon after 1740

  • Watercolour painting of Rhode Island Greening apples by Royal Charles Steadman.

    Rhode Island Greening

    Probably from Green's End near Newport; second only to the Baldwin in New York in 1905, and Rhode Island's state fruit

    United States, by 1748

  • Watercolour painting of Newtown Pippin apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Newtown Pippin

    From Newtown, Long Island: the first American apple to draw notice in Europe, sent to Franklin in London in 1759

    United States, early 18th century

  • Watercolour painting of Esopus Spitzenburg apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Esopus Spitzenburg

    A Hudson valley apple known before 1790; DNA shows it a parent of Jonathan and probably a child of Reinette Franche

    United States, before 1790

  • Watercolour painting of American Golden Russet apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    American Golden Russet

    A small New Jersey russet whose flesh Downing likened to a buttery pear; Coxe knew it in 1817 as Sheep-nose

    United States, late 1700s

  • Watercolour painting of Ben Davis apples by Royal Charles Steadman.

    Ben Davis

    A tough-skinned keeper of unknown Southern origin; in 1909–13 second only to Baldwin among American apples

    United States, about 1800

  • Watercolour painting of Northern Spy apples by Royal Charles Steadman.

    Northern Spy

    Raised from Connecticut seed at East Bloomfield, New York, about 1800; third among US apples in 1909–13

    United States, about 1800

  • Watercolour painting of Ralls Janet apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Ralls Janet

    A late-blooming Virginia apple known by about 1800; in Japan, as Kokko, it became a parent of Fuji

    United States, about 1800

  • Watercolour painting of Grimes Golden apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Grimes Golden

    A West Virginia apple sold to New Orleans traders by 1804; DNA confirms it as a parent of Golden Delicious

    United States, by 1804

  • Watercolour painting of Tompkins King apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Tompkins King

    Brought from New Jersey to Tompkins County, New York, in 1804; a triploid with Esopus Spitzenburg as one parent

    United States, before 1804

  • Watercolour painting of Winesap apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Winesap

    Of unknown origin, it was "the most favored cider fruit in West Jersey" in 1817 and a parent of Delicious

    United States, by 1817

  • Watercolour painting of Yellow Bellflower apples by Bertha Heiges.

    Yellow Bellflower

    In 1817 the most popular apple in the Philadelphia market, it came from near Crosswicks, New Jersey

    United States, before 1817

  • Watercolour painting of York Imperial apples by Bertha Heiges.

    York Imperial

    A lopsided Pennsylvania winter apple, named after Charles Downing called it the "imperial of keepers"

    United States, 1820

  • Watercolour painting of Jonathan apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Jonathan

    Named by Judge Buel after Jonathan Hasbrouck; in a 2020 DNA study only Cox's Orange Pippin had more inferred offspring

    United States, by 1826

  • Watercolour painting of Rome Beauty apples by Elsie Lower Pomeroy.

    Rome Beauty

    An Ohio apple that blooms late and keeps until spring; in 2020–24, 94 per cent of the US crop went to processing

    United States, by 1848

  • Watercolour painting of Wealthy apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Wealthy

    Peter Gideon's hardy Minnesota seedling of the 1860s; DNA names Jonathan and Duchess of Oldenburg as its parents

    United States, about 1860

  • Watercolour painting of Stayman apples by Royal Charles Steadman.

    Stayman

    A Winesap seedling raised at Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1866; the fifth apple of American orchards in 1928

    United States, 1866

  • Watercolour painting of Arkansas Black apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Arkansas Black

    From Benton County, Arkansas, about 1870; in the sun its red skin deepens to purplish red or almost black

    United States, about 1870

  • Watercolour painting of Delicious apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Delicious

    Found by Jesse Hiatt at Peru, Iowa, and first called Hawkeye; by 1928 the most planted apple in American orchards

    United States, 1872

  • Watercolour painting of Wolf River apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Wolf River

    A large, very hardy apple raised by W. A. Springer near the Wolf River at Fremont, Wisconsin; first recorded in 1875

    United States, before 1875

  • Watercolour painting of Cortland apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Cortland

    The first apple from the Geneva station's breeding: Ben Davis × McIntosh, crossed in 1898 and introduced in 1915

    United States, 1898

  • Watercolour painting of Golden Delicious apples by James Marion Shull.

    Golden Delicious

    A West Virginia seedling that Stark Bro's bought for $5,000 and guarded in a locked cage with a burglar alarm

    United States, 1905

  • Watercolour painting of Macoun apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Macoun

    McIntosh × Jersey Black, crossed at Geneva in 1909 and named after the Canadian pomologist W. T. Macoun

    United States, 1909

  • Watercolour painting of Haralson apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Haralson

    A Malinda seedling named after the first head of Minnesota's fruit breeding farm; DNA names Wealthy as its other parent

    United States, by 1913

  • Photograph of Idared apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Idared

    Raised in Idaho from Jonathan and Wagener and introduced in 1942; in the US today nearly all of it is processed

    United States, selected 1935

  • Keepsake

    A hard, long-keeping Minnesota apple from a 1936 cross, introduced in 1979; DNA shows it is a parent of Honeycrisp

    United States, 1936

  • Photograph of Jonagold apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Jonagold

    Golden Delicious × Jonathan, crossed at Geneva in 1943; in 1981 western Europe planted it more than any other apple

    United States, 1943

  • Photograph of a Pink Pearl apple cut open to show its pink flesh.

    Pink Pearl

    Albert Etter's best-known red-fleshed apple, a Surprise seedling from Ettersburg, California, patented in 1947

    United States, by 1944

  • Photograph of Empire apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Empire

    Grown from McIntosh seed gathered near Claverack in 1945, after spring frosts had destroyed Geneva's planned crosses

    United States, 1945

  • Photograph of Liberty apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Liberty

    Bred at Geneva, New York, from a 1955 cross and named in 1978 to denote its freedom from disease

    United States, 1955

  • Prima

    The first apple named by the Purdue–Rutgers–Illinois scab-resistance programme, in 1970; PRI begins its name

    United States, 1957

  • Honeycrisp

    Nearly discarded after winter injury, it became Minnesota's state fruit; DNA showed its recorded parents were wrong

    United States, about 1960

  • Newell-Kimzey

    Red-fleshed chance seedling recorded at Airlie, Oregon, in 1960; seed parent of Bill Howell's red-fleshed apples

    United States, about 1960

  • Enterprise

    A late, long-keeping red apple from the Purdue–Rutgers–Illinois scab-resistance programme, and a parent of WA 38

    United States, 1971

  • GoldRush

    A late yellow apple of the Purdue–Rutgers–Illinois programme, named for its gold colour and "rush" of flavour

    United States, 1972

  • Minneiska

    An early, very crisp Minnesota apple from a 1988 cross of Honeycrisp and Minnewashta, sold as SweeTango

    United States, 1988

  • New York 2

    A late, firm and tart Cornell apple from a 1992 cross of Braeburn and Autumn Crisp; sold under the trade mark RubyFrost

    United States, 1992

  • CN 121

    A seedling of open-pollinated Honeycrisp raised at Worthington, Minnesota; sold under the trade mark SugarBee

    United States, 1994

  • MN55

    An early Minnesota apple from a 1997 Honeycrisp cross; sold under the trade marks First Kiss and Rave

    United States, 1997

  • WA 38

    Bred at Washington State University from a 1997 cross of Enterprise and Honeycrisp; 7 per cent of the US crop in 2025/26

    United States, 1997

  • New York 1

    Bred at Geneva, New York, from a 1998 cross with Honeycrisp; its fruit is sold under the trade mark SnapDragon

    United States, 1998

  • MAIA-1

    A Honeycrisp × Fuji seedling bred by a growers' association; only Honeycrisp was planted more in Michigan in 2020–22

    United States, 1999

  • MAIA-L

    A late, deep red open-pollinated seedling picked out at Pataskala, Ohio; sold under the trade mark Ludacrisp

    United States, 1999

  • Howell TC2

    Red-skinned, red-fleshed seedling of Airlie Red Flesh, raised at Prosser, Washington, and selected in 2010

    United States, 2001

  • Howell TC3

    Yellow-skinned, red-fleshed seedling of Airlie Red Flesh, raised at Prosser, Washington, and selected in 2010

    United States, 2001

  • Howell TC7

    Pink-blushed apple with white and red flesh, raised at Prosser, Washington, from Airlie Red Flesh seed

    United States, 2001

And 188 more in the catalogue, A to Z

Sources

  1. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Updated 31 December 2025. Supports: each country's apple harvest by year (item 515, apples, in tonnes, 1961 to 2024), the shares of the world's harvest and the ranks worked out from them, and which figures FAOSTAT estimated or imputed.