Tea is commercially grown in a surprisingly small number of places across the United States, with production concentrated in South Carolina, Hawaii, and the Gulf Coast region. The plant thrives in USDA hardiness zones 6 through 9, which covers a broad swath of the country, but the combination of acidic soil, warm temperatures, and enough rainfall to sustain year-round growth limits where it can be farmed at scale. At least 17 states now have active tea growers, though most operations are small farms producing artisan or specialty teas rather than the mass-market product lining grocery store shelves.
South Carolina: America’s Oldest Tea Region
The largest and most established tea operation in the country sits on Wadmalaw Island, just south of Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston Tea Garden (formerly the Charleston Tea Plantation) spans 127 acres and is the only large-scale commercial tea farm in the continental United States. Its roots stretch back further than most people realize. Tea bushes first arrived in the U.S. from China in the late 1700s, and several early attempts to grow tea in South Carolina failed. The first real success came in 1888, when Dr. Charles Shepard founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina, producing award-winning teas until his death in 1915.
After Shepard died, those original tea plants grew wild for 45 years. In 1963, they were transplanted to the Wadmalaw Island farm, which operated as a research station for the next two decades. William Barclay Hall, a third-generation tea taster trained in London, bought the land in 1987 and converted it into a working commercial farm. Today, hundreds of thousands of tea bushes cover the property, producing American Classic Tea, one of the only teas grown and packaged entirely in the U.S. The warm, humid climate and naturally acidic soils of South Carolina’s Lowcountry make it well suited for the crop.
Hawaii: Small Farms Across the Islands
Hawaii is the other major hub for American-grown tea, though the industry looks very different from South Carolina’s single large operation. A University of Hawaii market feasibility study identified 19 tea farmers growing across the state. The vast majority of them, 17 out of 19, are on the Big Island (Hawaii Island), with one farm each on Kauai and Maui.
Hawaiian tea farms tend to be small, often just a few acres, and they focus on hand-picked, premium teas that sell at specialty prices. The tropical climate provides consistent warmth and rainfall, and the volcanic soil is naturally acidic, which tea plants prefer. Hawaii’s geographic isolation also means fewer pest pressures than mainland growing regions. These farms produce green, black, and oolong teas that compete in the artisan tea market rather than on supermarket shelves.
Mississippi and the Gulf Coast
Mississippi has quietly emerged as one of the more promising new tea-growing regions. The Great Mississippi Tea Company in Brookhaven and the Pearl River Tea Company in Poplarville are two of the state’s active producers, and researchers at Mississippi State University have been working alongside these growers to study how well tea performs in the region. Their conclusion: the soil and climate are well suited to the crop.
The connection is surprisingly intuitive. Tea plants thrive in the same conditions as blueberry bushes, needing acidic soil and warm, humid weather. Mississippi checks both boxes. The state’s fine sandy loam soils naturally fall around a pH of 4.9, right in the sweet spot of 4.5 to 5.5 that tea requires. Long growing seasons and ample rainfall round out the picture. While Mississippi’s tea farms are still small and relatively young, they represent a broader trend of tea cultivation pushing into the Gulf Coast states.
Other States Growing Tea
Beyond the three main regions, tea is being grown on smaller scales across at least 14 additional states. Oregon has been experimenting with cold-hardy tea cultivars that can survive freezing temperatures, pushing the crop further north than its traditional range. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and other southeastern states have tea growers taking advantage of the same warm climate and acidic soils that make South Carolina and Mississippi viable. Washington state, Northern California, and parts of the Pacific Northwest have seen experimental or small-batch production as well.
Most of these operations are micro-farms or garden-scale projects rather than commercial enterprises. They sell direct to consumers, at farmers’ markets, or through specialty tea retailers. The challenge in scaling up is less about climate and more about labor. Tea harvesting is still done largely by hand for quality production, and labor costs in the U.S. make it difficult to compete on price with tea from China, India, or Kenya, where the vast majority of the world’s supply is grown.
Why the U.S. Grows So Little Tea
Despite having suitable growing conditions across a wide stretch of the Southeast, the U.S. produces a negligible fraction of the world’s tea. The domestic tea production industry generates roughly $1.8 billion in revenue, but that figure includes processing and packaging of imported tea, not just farming. Actual field production is so small that federal agencies have historically suppressed the output data because only one company (the Charleston Tea Garden) was involved, and publishing the number would reveal proprietary business information.
The reasons are economic, not agricultural. Tea can physically grow wild throughout much of the Southeast, and it has for over a century. But turning that into a profitable commercial crop requires cheap labor for harvesting, and the U.S. has never been able to compete with Asian and African producers on that front. What American growers offer instead is provenance, freshness, and the appeal of a locally grown product. That positions U.S. tea as a premium, niche product rather than a commodity crop.
What Tea Plants Need to Thrive
If you’re curious whether tea could grow in your area, the basic requirements are straightforward. The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) needs acidic soil with a pH between 4.5 and 5.5, similar to what azaleas and blueberries prefer. It grows in USDA hardiness zones 6 through 9, which covers much of the eastern U.S. from southern New England down through Florida, and the Pacific coast from Washington to Southern California. The soil should be deep, light, and well-drained, as tea plants don’t tolerate waterlogged roots.
Beyond soil, the plants need consistent moisture and prefer humid climates. Full sun produces the best leaf quality for harvest. In colder parts of zone 6, winter protection or cold-hardy cultivars may be necessary. Several nurseries now sell tea plants for home gardens, and hobbyist tea growing has become increasingly popular in states where commercial production hasn’t yet taken hold.