These data were compiled in support of the 'Predicting the next high-impact insect invasion: Elucidating traits and factors determining the risk of introduced herbivorous insects on North American native plants' project, supported by the U.S. Geological Survey John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. The project working group compiled data for non-native insects herbivorous on one North American hardwood (i.e., woody angiosperm) family. Data were synthesized from existing resources for a variety of insect traits, traits of their North American hardwood host plants, divergence time between the North American host species and the host species in the insects' native range, and native insects that feed on the same North American host as the non-native insect (co-evolved). This dataset, referred to as the TRAFAC (Traits and Factors Catalogue) for hardwoods supports analysis performed by the working group on the drivers of non-native insect impact on North American hardwoods and also stands alone as a resource for additional analysis.