How Much Money Can You Make Selling Microgreens
Ten trays on a spare room shelf it's the classic starting setup and it raises the question every new grower asks: how much money can you make selling microgreens?
If you're a home grower trying to turn a few trays into steady monthly income, one number decides the answer it's what's left after your own hours. I'll walk through it tray by tray.
The short version comes first.
On the University of Missouri Extension's 2024 microgreens budget, one tray leaves about $6 to $19 after every cost including paid labor (Missouri Extension, 2024). At ten trays a week that adds up to roughly $3,000 to $10,000 a year.
Where you land depends on yield per tray, price per ounce and how many trays you actually sell.
Below you'll find the tray math behind that range, the sell through trap that erases profit and how to price trays so your labor gets paid. A short stop at red cabbage shows how vitamin C data can back a higher price.
Why Most New Growers Get Microgreen Income Wrong
The belief goes like this: microgreens cost pennies to grow and sell by the ounce so profit is automatic. Fair enough up to a point.
Demand is real and the global microgreens business reached about $1.9 billion in 2025 with North America holding 36.5% of it (IMARC Group, 2025).
Prices hold up too. Grower Garrett Corwin's analysis for Piedmont Microgreens assumes restaurant prices of $1.75 to $8.00 an ounce depending on the crop (Microgreen Manager, 2022). At $3 an ounce a 12 ounce tray of radish brings in $36.
Not so fast. That radish tray shows an 84% gross margin and gross margin counts only seeds, soil, packaging and about seven minutes of labor (Microgreen Manager, 2022).
It skips rent, software, audits and every hour you spend selling (Microgreen Manager, 2022). I don't trust any microgreens profit margin that hides its labor minutes.
How Much Money Can You Make Selling Microgreens? A Step by Step Breakdown
Start with the tray. Missouri Extension's budget models $32 to $60 in revenue per harvested tray (Missouri Extension, 2024). That works out to $4 an ounce on trays yielding 8 to 15 ounces.
Total costs run $25.42 to $40.55 per tray including $5 of labor (15 minutes at $20 an hour) and marketing at 15% of sales. Subtract. The tray clears $5.84 to $19.45 (Missouri Extension, 2024).
Microgreen income per tray: low end vs. high end
| Variable | Low End | High End | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue per harvested tray | $32 | $60 | Missouri Extension, 2024 |
| Total cost per tray, labor included | $25.42 | $40.55 | Missouri Extension, 2024 |
| Income over total costs | $5.84 | $19.45 | Missouri Extension, 2024 |
| Labor per tray | 7 min ($1.95) | 15 min ($5.00) | Microgreen Manager, 2022; Missouri Extension, 2024 |
Labor is the swing factor. Corwin's farm data puts a tray at seven minutes and $1.95 of labor at $17 an hour (Microgreen Manager, 2022). Missouri assumes $5 so the same tray lands $3 apart.
💡 Pro Tip: Time your first ten trays from seed to sealed clamshell with a phone stopwatch. If you land at seven minutes instead of fifteen you keep about $2.67 more per tray at a $20 wage.
Now scale it. Ten trays a week is 520 trays a year so $5.84 a tray gives $3,037 and $19.45 gives $10,114.
The budget already pays you $20 an hour so that profit lands on top of a wage. At ten trays the wage adds roughly $2,600 a year (520 trays × $5) which puts total take home near $5,600 to $12,700.
Annual profit by weekly volume (52 weeks, every tray sold)
| Trays Sold Weekly | Annual Profit, Low | Annual Profit, High | Notes / Assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $3,037 | $10,114 | About 2.5 paid labor hours a week |
| 25 | $7,592 | $25,285 | About 6 paid labor hours a week |
| 50 | $15,184 | $50,570 | About 12.5 paid labor hours a week |
The Sell Through Trap Nobody Tells New Microgreen Growers About
Nearly every answer to "how much money can you make selling microgreens" assumes each harvested tray sells mine included that's the trap. You spend the money at seeding but the revenue only arrives at the register.
Run a low end tray: $32 in revenue against about $26 in costs. Harvest ten and sell eight and you collect roughly $256 against roughly $262 spent (my arithmetic on Missouri Extension, 2024). Underwater.
New Hampshire's Fat Peach Farm shows the discipline this takes. Farmer Jennifer Wilhelm turned an 8 by 7 foot cold storage room, idle in winter into a 36 tray grow space. She seeded 16 trays a week for three months then cut to 11 once three vendors defined real demand (SARE, 2021).
Her budget projected that $2,326.04 in startup costs could be recovered in year one (SARE, 2021). It also showed $1,577 in net income from 12 microgreen trays a week. Her microgreens averaged just 7.31 ounces a tray and she still projected a profit.
So is growing microgreens profitable? At small scale, yes and modestly. I'd take three confirmed buyers and eleven trays over a full rack and no buyers, every time.
How to Price Microgreens Without Underselling Your Own Hours
Know your exact number first.
Weigh the ounces from ten trays, add up every cost and divide. Simple.
A tray that costs about $26 and yields 8 ounces breaks even near $3.25 an ounce. Sell below that and every tray loses money.
So how much do microgreens sell for? Missouri's budget works at $4 an ounce and Piedmont's restaurant rates run $1.75 to $8.00 (Microgreen Manager, 2022). Price by crop not by tray.
Arugula sits at the bottom of Piedmont's table at 72% gross margin because it sells for $3 an ounce.
Dill reaches 91% at $8 (Microgreen Manager, 2022). Corwin's rule of thumb for new farms is a microgreens profit margin above 80% (gross) and I'd hold to it.
Nutrition data gives red cabbage a pricing story the other crops can't match. Researchers from the USDA and the University of Maryland tested 25 varieties and red cabbage came out highest for vitamin C (USDA ARS, 2014).
The red cabbage microgreens vitamin C reading was 147.0 mg per 100 g of fresh weight (Xiao et al., 2012). Mature red cabbage came in at 24.4 mg.
Vitamin C content of microgreens chart: mg per 100 g fresh weight (Xiao et al., 2012)
| Comparison | Microgreens | Mature Plant | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red cabbage vs published mature data | 147.0 | 24.4 | 6.0x |
| Red cabbage vs USDA database entry | 147.0 | 57.0 | 2.6x |
| Garnet amaranth vs mature leaf | 131.6 | 11.6 to 45.3 | 2.9x to 11.3x |
In the microgreens vs vegetables vitamin C comparison the gap runs from 2.6 to 11.3 times, depending on which mature reference you pick.
If a customer asks for the best microgreens for immune system support, red cabbage is the defensible answer on vitamin C alone. Those readings came from commercially sourced samples so your trays will land somewhere else.
📝 Note: The study measured vitamin content not health outcomes. Put the lab number on your label and skip claims that a tray boosts immunity.
Key Takeaways
- On a university budget a tray clears $5.84 to $19.45 after every cost, labor included.
- Ten trays a week means roughly $3,037 to $10,114 a year, earned on top of a $20 hourly wage.
- Labor minutes per tray and sell through swing the result more than seed choice does.
- Sell eight of ten low end trays and you're underwater.
- Red cabbage led the vitamin C tests so label the lab number and skip the health claims.
The honest answer to "how much money can you make selling microgreens" is a range. Your first ten trays will show which end you live on so track their labor minutes, ounces and buyers for a month. After that it's arithmetic.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most profitable microgreens to sell?
In Piedmont Microgreens' analysis, dill leads on gross margin at 91% while arugula trails at 72%. Crops priced at $8 an ounce carry the top margins. Those are one farm's restaurant prices so check your own buyers before copying the list.
How much do I sell my microgreens for?
Missouri Extension's budget uses about $4 an ounce and Piedmont's restaurant rates run $1.75 to $8.00. On an 8 ounce crop that costs about $26 a tray anything under roughly $3.25 an ounce loses money.
Is it worth growing microgreens?
For side income, yes. How much money can you make selling microgreens at ten trays a week? Roughly $3,000 to $10,000 a year in profit on the Missouri numbers plus a $20 hourly wage.
Is there a high demand for microgreens?
At market level, yes: IMARC Group put global sales at about $1.9 billion in 2025. Your microgreens business needs smaller, more personal demand. Three or four confirmed buyers matter more than a market report.
Do microgreens really have more vitamin C than regular vegetables?
Sometimes. Red cabbage microgreens measured 147.0 mg per 100 g against 24.4 mg for mature red cabbage in one USDA linked study. The gap depends on the crop and on which mature reference you compare against.
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