There are about 145,000 more registered drones owners in the United States than any other aircraft, according to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.
Compared to the around 315,000 registered aircraft, there are 460,000 drones owners registered in the FAA aircraft database.
With the popularity of drones, sales have tripled in the last year to about $200 million, according to a retail research firm, NPD. Averaged out, that's over $550 per drone.
Sales jumped by 445 percent in the 2015 holiday season, and are expected to grown from 2.5 million in 2016 to 7 million by 2020. That's an increase of 180 percent, according to the 2016 FAA Aerospace Forecast report.
The FAA also predicts that 2017 will see the biggest adoption of drones by businesses.
Suburban areas around Baltimore and Washington see the highest number of drone owners in the state, with Pasadena, Maryland having the greatest number of drone pilots at 148.
These numbers released by the FAA, after a Freedom of Information Act was requested, do not include drone pilots with aircraft weighing under 0.55 pounds, because pilots are not required to register them.
"The industry looks at drones as a hobby, as a toy, when in reality there are sustainable commercial enterprises that are using these on a daily basis," Eric DiProspero, president of Federal Hill drone company Heights + Horizons, told the Baltimore Sun. "It falls on the FAA to open up and listen to folks reasonably, but it also falls on drone users, whether it's hobbyist or commercial, to do so responsibly to not force the FAA's hand."
Drones aren't just taking off in the U.S, according to a market research company. By the end of 2025, the unmanned aerial vehicles, or drone, industry will be over $11.54 billion in China alone.
Over the past years, China's market has grown more than 50%, according to the report.
