Black cherry and black walnut are the two premium native furniture woods of the eastern United States, and they are often chosen between for a table, a bed or a set of cabinets. They are close in hardness and weight, so the decision is mostly about colour, how the colour changes, and cost.
Cherry vs Walnut: the numbers
| Property | Black cherry | Black walnut |
|---|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% MC | 950 lbf | 1,010 lbf |
| Density at 12% MC | 35.0 lb/ft³ | 38.5 lb/ft³ |
| Weight per board foot | 2.91 lb | 3.20 lb |
| Bending strength (MOR), 12% MC | 12,300 psi | 14,600 psi |
| Stiffness (MOE), 12% MC | 1.49 million psi | 1.68 million psi |
| Crushing strength parallel to grain | 7,110 psi | 7,580 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry, tangential | 7.1% | 7.8% |
| Shrinkage, radial | 3.7% | 5.5% |
| Shrinkage, volumetric | 11.5% | 12.8% |
| Tangential / radial ratio (cupping tendency) | 1.92 | 1.42 |
| Width change per 1% MC, flatsawn (Table 13-5) | 0.248% | 0.274% |
| Heartwood decay resistance (Table 14-1) | moderately resistant | resistant |
What the numbers mean
- Hardness: Black walnut is 6% harder than Black cherry (1,010 against 950 lbf), so it resists dents from furniture feet, dropped tools and wear correspondingly better.
- Weight: Black walnut is 10% heavier. A 1 x 6 board 8 feet long (4 board feet nominal) weighs about 12.8 lb in black walnut and 11.6 lb in black cherry at 12% moisture content.
- Strength and stiffness: Black walnut is 19% stronger in bending and 13% stiffer. Stiffness is what decides how much a shelf of the same size sags under the same load.
- Movement: a flatsawn board 10 in wide that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content (a dry winter to a humid summer indoors) swells about 0.149 in (5/32 in) in black cherry and 0.164 in (5/32 in) in black walnut, from Handbook Eq. 13-2 and the Table 13-5 coefficients. Allow for this in table tops, panels and floors.
- Decay resistance of the heartwood: Black cherry: moderately resistant; Black walnut: resistant. Sapwood of every species has low decay resistance.
Appearance, working and what to watch for
Cherry is pinkish brown when freshly cut and darkens to a warm reddish brown in light; walnut is dark chocolate brown when cut and slowly lightens towards a warmer, slightly golden brown over many years in sun. Put the two side by side and cherry gets darker while walnut gets lighter, so pieces that mix them change their contrast over time.
Both have a fine texture and both machine, sand and finish well. Cherry is closer-grained and can blotch under pigment stain; walnut has slightly larger pores that some finishers fill for a glass-smooth top. Walnut is the harder, stronger and stiffer of the two in the Handbook data, and its heartwood is rated more decay resistant. Both woods are moderately stable: cherry has the lower tangential shrinkage, walnut the lower tangential-to-radial ratio, so walnut cups a little less.
Buying and sapwood
Both woods are sold with some pale sapwood. In walnut it is very noticeable, which is why much commercial walnut is steamed to darken the sapwood and even out the colour (steaming also slightly mutes the heartwood). In cherry the sapwood is creamy and stays light while the heartwood darkens, so sapwood streaks become more obvious with time. If you want a uniform piece in either wood, pay for a higher grade or sort boards yourself and cut around the sapwood. Expect more waste with narrow walnut boards.
For a mixed piece, make a small sample with both woods side by side, finish it, and leave it in a window for a few weeks: you will see how the contrast will change.
Which to choose: verdict by use
| Use | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dark, dramatic furniture | Black walnut | Dark without stain. |
| Warm, traditional (Shaker, colonial) furniture | Black cherry | The classic wood for these styles; colour deepens with age. |
| Pieces that see some outdoor exposure | Black walnut | Heartwood rated resistant; cherry is moderately resistant. |
| Cabinets on a tighter budget | Black cherry | Usually somewhat cheaper than walnut, with wider boards common. |
| Turned and carved work | Either | Both cut cleanly; walnut is the traditional gunstock wood. |
Frequently asked questions
Is walnut harder than cherry?
Slightly. Black walnut has 1,010 lbf of Janka hardness and black cherry 950 lbf (Wood Handbook, 12% moisture content).
Which is more expensive, cherry or walnut?
Walnut usually costs more per board foot, though both prices vary widely by grade and region.
Can cherry and walnut be used together?
Yes, and they often are, but remember the contrast changes: cherry darkens and walnut lightens with light exposure.
Sources and method
All property values are read from our parsed copy of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190, 2010), a US Government publication in the public domain, the same data as the wood species database. The percentages and the board examples above are our arithmetic on those values. The values describe small, clear, straight-grained specimens: real boards with knots or sloping grain differ, and structural lumber is sized from graded design values in your local building code, not from this table.
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 24 October 2026. How we build and check our data: methodology and corrections. Spotted an error? Please let us know.