Of the 50 states and DC, 27 are cool-season lawn states, 12 are warm-season, and 12 sit in the transition zone where neither type is a comfortable fit. The table below gives the best grass type for every state, along with its USDA hardiness zone range and the species that actually hold up there.
Key Takeaways
- 27 states are cool-season country. Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and perennial ryegrass do the work.
- 12 states are warm-season. Bermuda, St. Augustine, zoysia and centipede dominate.
- 12 states sit in the transition zone, where tall fescue and zoysia are the two safest picks.
- Your USDA hardiness zone sets the outer limit. Sun, shade and traffic decide the rest.
- Large states span more than one zone, so check the state note before you buy seed or sod.
Best grass type by state
Species are listed best first. “Lawn type” is the turfgrass zone the state mostly falls into, which is what decides your whole care calendar.
| State | USDA zones | Lawn type | Best grasses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 7a-9a | Warm-season | Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, St. Augustine |
| Alaska | 1a-8b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Arizona | 4b-10b | Warm-season | Bermuda, Buffalograss, Zoysia |
| Arkansas | 6b-8a | Transition | Tall fescue, Bermuda, Zoysia |
| California | 5a-11a | Warm-season | Tall fescue, Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia |
| Colorado | 3a-7a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Buffalograss |
| Connecticut | 5b-7a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Delaware | 7a-7b | Transition | Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Zoysia |
| District of Columbia | 7a-7b | Transition | Tall fescue, Zoysia, Kentucky bluegrass |
| Florida | 8a-11a | Warm-season | St. Augustine, Bahia, Zoysia, Bermuda |
| Georgia | 6b-9a | Warm-season | Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, Tall fescue (north GA) |
| Hawaii | 9a-13a | Warm-season | St. Augustine, Bermuda, Zoysia |
| Idaho | 3a-7a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Fine fescue |
| Illinois | 5a-7a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Indiana | 5b-6b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Iowa | 4b-6a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Fine fescue |
| Kansas | 5b-7a | Transition | Tall fescue, Bermuda, Zoysia, Buffalograss |
| Kentucky | 6a-7a | Transition | Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Zoysia |
| Louisiana | 8a-10a | Warm-season | St. Augustine, Bermuda, Centipede, Zoysia |
| Maine | 3b-6a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Maryland | 5b-8a | Transition | Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Zoysia |
| Massachusetts | 5a-7b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Michigan | 4a-6b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Minnesota | 3a-5a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Mississippi | 7b-9a | Warm-season | Bermuda, St. Augustine, Centipede, Zoysia |
| Missouri | 5b-7b | Transition | Tall fescue, Zoysia, Bermuda |
| Montana | 3a-6b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Tall fescue |
| Nebraska | 4b-6a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Buffalograss |
| Nevada | 4a-10a | Warm-season | Bermuda, Tall fescue, Buffalograss |
| New Hampshire | 3b-6a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| New Jersey | 6a-7b | Cool-season | Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass |
| New Mexico | 4a-9a | Warm-season | Bermuda, Buffalograss, Tall fescue |
| New York | 3b-7b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| North Carolina | 5b-8b | Transition | Tall fescue, Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede |
| North Dakota | 3a-4b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Buffalograss |
| Ohio | 5b-6b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Oklahoma | 6a-8a | Transition | Bermuda, Tall fescue, Zoysia, Buffalograss |
| Oregon | 4b-9b | Cool-season | Perennial ryegrass, Tall fescue, Fine fescue |
| Pennsylvania | 5a-7b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Rhode Island | 6a-7a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| South Carolina | 7a-9a | Warm-season | Bermuda, Centipede, Zoysia, St. Augustine |
| South Dakota | 3b-5b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Buffalograss |
| Tennessee | 5b-8a | Transition | Tall fescue, Bermuda, Zoysia |
| Texas | 6a-10a | Warm-season | Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Buffalograss |
| Utah | 4a-9a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Tall fescue, Fine fescue |
| Vermont | 3b-5b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Virginia | 5a-8a | Transition | Tall fescue, Bermuda, Zoysia |
| Washington | 4a-9a | Cool-season | Perennial ryegrass, Fine fescue, Tall fescue |
| West Virginia | 5a-7a | Transition | Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass |
| Wisconsin | 3b-5b | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Perennial ryegrass |
| Wyoming | 2b-6a | Cool-season | Kentucky bluegrass, Fine fescue, Buffalograss |
The 3 turfgrass zones, and why they decide everything
Every lawn in the US falls into one of three zones, and 39 of the 51 entries sit clearly in one of the two extremes. The zone decides your grass, your mowing height, when you feed, and when you seed.
Cool-season states
Cool-season grasses grow hardest in spring and autumn and slow down in summer heat. They stay green through cold winters and go dormant in drought. Feed them in early autumn, not midsummer.
States: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
Warm-season states
Warm-season grasses grow hardest in summer heat and go brown and dormant after the first frost. They need less water than cool-season turf but they will not stay green all winter unless you overseed.
States: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas.
Transition zone states
The transition zone is the hardest place in the country to grow a lawn. Winters are too cold for warm-season grass to stay green, and summers are too hot for cool-season grass to stay comfortable. Tall fescue and zoysia are the two species extension services most often recommend here.
States: Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia.
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Build My Lawn Plan →States that span more than one zone
12 states are wide or mountainous enough that a single answer is misleading. If you live in one of these, use the note rather than the state row.
| State | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Texas | Texas spans zones 6a to 10a. North Texas behaves like the transition zone (tall fescue works); central and south Texas are firmly warm-season. |
| California | California spans zones 5a to 11a. Coastal and northern lawns are usually cool-season; inland, southern and desert lawns are warm-season. |
| Georgia | North Georgia sits in the transition zone where tall fescue holds, while central and south Georgia are warm-season. |
| Arizona | Low desert lawns green up early and often get overseeded with perennial ryegrass for winter colour. High-elevation Arizona is cool-season. |
| Nevada | Southern Nevada is low desert and warm-season. Northern Nevada is high desert and cool-season. |
| New Mexico | Eastern and southern New Mexico suit bermuda and buffalograss. Higher elevations run cool-season. |
| Oregon | West of the Cascades is mild and wet and suits ryegrass and fine fescue. East of the Cascades is colder and drier. |
| Washington | West of the Cascades is mild and wet and suits ryegrass and fine fescue. East of the Cascades is colder and drier. |
| Alaska | Only the southern and coastal areas support conventional lawns. Choose the hardiest cool-season mixes. |
| Florida | North Florida gets occasional frost, so hold the last feed earlier than in central and south Florida. |
| North Carolina | The mountains are cool-season, the piedmont is transition, and the coastal plain is warm-season. |
| Virginia | The mountains and north are cool-season leaning, while the south and coast support bermuda and zoysia. |
How we built this table
Each state is assigned its USDA hardiness zone range, then placed in the cool-season, warm-season or transition zone using the split published by US land-grant extension services. Species are ordered by how often extension services recommend them for home lawns in that state. Sources: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023 revision) and the turfgrass recommendations published by US land-grant university extension services, including Clemson HGIC, NC State Extension, UF/IFAS, Texas A&M AgriLife, Purdue Extension, University of Wisconsin Horticulture and University of Maryland Extension. Last updated 2026-08-19. You are welcome to cite or reproduce this table with a link back to this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common lawn grass in the US?
Kentucky bluegrass is the most widely planted lawn grass across the northern states, and St. Augustinegrass and bermudagrass dominate the south. Tall fescue is the most common choice through the transition zone because it handles both heat and cold better than most.
What grass grows best in the transition zone?
Tall fescue and zoysiagrass. Extension services across Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Missouri recommend tall fescue as the cool-season option and zoysia as the warm-season option, because both tolerate the zone’s hot summers and cold winters better than the alternatives.
How do I know if I need cool-season or warm-season grass?
Find your state in the table above. If your state is listed as cool-season, plant cool-season grass. If it spans zones, check the state note, because the answer changes between the mountains and the coast in several states.
Can I grow warm-season grass in a cool-season state?
Usually not well. Warm-season grasses go brown after the first frost and stay dormant for months in a cold-winter state, and many will not survive repeated hard freezes.
Now you know your grass type, get a free personalised lawn care plan built around it, or see when to fertilize your lawn in your state.
