Landscaper Salary: BLS Median Pay by State
Half of landscaping and groundskeeping workers earned more than $39,150 a year and half earned less, per the May 2025 BLS OEWS release. State medians in this guide run from $35,630 to $48,670.
$39,150
Median annual wage
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers, May 2025 OEWS
$18.82
Median hourly wage
Official OEWS hourly median
3.6%
Projected growth, 2024–2034
all occupations: 3.1%
952,640
OEWS employment, May 2025
wage and salary workers
Wage figures are medians for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers (SOC 37-3011). May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026. The OEWS mean is $42,290 per year ($20.33 per hour), which is a different statistic from the median.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers maintain grounds, lawns, and plantings for homes, businesses, institutions, and public spaces. BLS reports them as a single occupation under SOC 37-3011. The May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release put the median annual wage at $39,150, or $18.82 an hour, across 952,640 wage and salary workers, making it one of the largest occupations in the service trades. The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution, so half of that group earned more and half earned less; the arithmetic mean was $42,290 a year. State medians in this guide range from $35,630 in Alabama to $48,670 in Massachusetts. Two important scope points apply here. OEWS covers wage and salary workers only, so self-employed landscapers are outside these figures, and supervisors, designers, and tree care specialists are counted in separate BLS occupations rather than this one. BLS projects the occupation to grow from 1,192,500 in 2024 to 1,235,000 in 2034, a net increase of 42,400 positions, with an average of 158,200 openings a year.
Landscaper wage benchmark lookup
Look up the official BLS median wage for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers nationally or in a listed state. This is a published benchmark, not a personalized salary estimate, and it applies no adjustment for experience, employer, or credentials.
Only states with a published OEWS median for this occupation are listed.
Median annual wage, United States (national)
$39,150/year
Median hourly wage: $18.82/hr
Source: May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026. Half of landscaping and groundskeeping workers in this area earned more than this amount and half earned less. OEWS covers wage and salary workers. It excludes self-employed people and owners or partners of unincorporated firms, so it does not measure owner earnings, draws, or business profit.
Landscaper median wages by state
Across the 15 states listed here, the May 2025 OEWS median for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers runs from $35,630 in Alabama to $48,670 in Massachusetts. Both the annual and hourly columns are published medians; neither is derived from the other.
States with the highest median pay
| State | Median annual | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $48,670 | $23.40/hr |
| Washington | $46,950 | $22.57/hr |
| Colorado | $45,760 | $22.00/hr |
| Connecticut | $45,740 | $21.99/hr |
| California | $45,560 | $21.90/hr |
States with the lowest median pay
| State | Median annual | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | $37,910 | $18.22/hr |
| Florida | $37,100 | $17.84/hr |
| Tennessee | $37,020 | $17.80/hr |
| Texas | $36,740 | $17.66/hr |
| Alabama | $35,630 | $17.13/hr |
Career path and progression
What the work involves at each stage. BLS publishes wages for the occupation as a whole, not by years of experience or license tier, so no pay figures are shown here.
Crew member
Mowing, trimming, edging, planting, mulching, and cleanups on a route, learning equipment operation and site standards.
Experienced technician
Runs a route with limited supervision, handles turf treatment programs or irrigation checks, and takes on plant health and pruning work.
Crew leader
Directs a crew through the daily route, handles client communication and quality checks, and manages equipment and material use. BLS counts supervisors in a separate occupation, 37-1012.
Specialist or manager
Moves into design and build work, irrigation systems, tree care, or account and operations management. Several of these paths sit in different BLS occupations with their own wage data.
Specialties and work settings
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers is a single BLS occupation, so the published wage data does not break out these specialties. They are described here for career planning only.
Lawn and grounds maintenance
Recurring mowing, trimming, edging, and seasonal cleanups on residential and commercial routes. The core of this BLS occupation.
Turf and plant health
Fertilization, weed and pest programs, aeration, and overseeding. Applying pesticides requires a state applicator credential, and dedicated vegetation applicators are counted under SOC 37-3012.
Irrigation
Installing, adjusting, and repairing sprinkler zones, controllers, and backflow devices, with seasonal startup and winterization work.
Hardscape and design build
Pavers, walls, patios, and planting installations. Project work rather than route work, often estimated and sold separately.
Tree and shrub care
Pruning, removals, and plant health diagnosis. BLS reports Tree Trimmers and Pruners separately under SOC 37-3013.
Snow and ice management
Plowing, salting, and sidewalk clearing that fills the winter season for northern operations and shifts crew hours rather than adding headcount.
Licenses and credentials in this trade
Grounds maintenance itself is generally unlicensed, but pesticide application is regulated by state programs and irrigation and contracting work is licensed in some jurisdictions. The industry programs below are voluntary. BLS does not publish a wage premium for any of them.
| Credential | Full name | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Pesticide applicator | State pesticide applicator license or certification | Required by state programs before applying regulated pesticides commercially, with categories tied to the type of application. Requirements and recertification cycles are set state by state. |
| ISA arborist | ISA Certified Arborist | A voluntary credential from the International Society of Arboriculture covering tree biology, pruning standards, diagnosis, and risk assessment. |
| Irrigation | Irrigation Association certification programs | Voluntary credentials for irrigation design, installation, and audit work. Separate state or water purveyor credentials may apply to backflow device testing. |
| NALP | NALP Landscape Industry Certified | A voluntary credential from the National Association of Landscape Professionals covering technical knowledge in maintenance, installation, and management tracks. |
| Equipment operation | Employer or manufacturer equipment training | Training on skid steers, mini excavators, and other machines used on installation work, which employers commonly require before assigning operation. |
Landscaper pay compared with related occupations
Every row is a single BLS detailed occupation with its own SOC code, May 2025 OEWS medians, and 2024–2034 projected growth. Rows are not adjusted for hours, region, or self-employment.
| Occupation | Median annual | Median hourly | Growth 2024–2034 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping workerThis guideLandscaping and Groundskeeping Workers | $39,150 | $18.82 | 3.6% |
| Landscaping supervisorFirst-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers | $58,430 | $28.09 | 2.3% |
| Tree trimmerTree Trimmers and Pruners | $50,960 | $24.50 | 3.3% |
| Vegetation applicatorPesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation | $46,340 | $22.28 | 3.8% |
| Pest control technicianPest Control Workers | $45,250 | $21.75 | 4.9% |
| Janitor and cleanerJanitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | $36,840 | $17.71 | 2% |
| Construction laborerConstruction Laborers | $47,120 | $22.66 | 7.3% |
Employment projections, 2024–2034
Projection figures come from the BLS National Employment Matrix for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers. They use a broader employment concept than the OEWS wage-and-salary count above, so the two employment figures are not interchangeable.
1,192,500
Employment, 2024
National Employment Matrix base year
1,235,000
Projected employment, 2034
National Employment Matrix projection
+42,400
Net employment change, 2024–2034
BLS published net change
3.6%
Projected growth, 2024–2034
percent change in employment
158,200
Average annual openings, 2024–2034
includes growth plus separations
3.1%
All occupations, 2024–2034
benchmark growth rate
BLS projects 3.6% employment growth for this occupation from 2024 to 2034, above the 3.1% BLS projects for all occupations.
BLS projects employment of landscaping and groundskeeping workers to rise from 1,192,500 in 2024 to 1,235,000 in 2034, a net increase of 42,400 positions, with an average of 158,200 openings a year across the decade. The gap between those two numbers is the defining feature of this occupation: openings are roughly thirty times the annual net increase, because the occupation is large and workers move in and out of it frequently. BLS attributes demand to grounds maintenance for residential and commercial property. It publishes no breakdown by service line, so this guide does not claim that design build, irrigation, or snow work is growing faster than maintenance.
Methodology and sources
- Occupation:
- Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers (SOC 37-3011)
- Wage source:
- May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026.
- Projection source:
- BLS Employment Projections and National Employment Matrix, 2024–2034, released August 28, 2025.
- Median vs mean:
- The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution. The mean is the arithmetic average and is usually higher. Headline figures on this page are medians.
- Scope:
- OEWS covers wage and salary workers. It excludes self-employed people and owners or partners of unincorporated firms, so it does not measure owner earnings, draws, or business profit.
- Occupation scope:
- This occupation covers the workers who perform grounds maintenance. Crew supervisors are reported under First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers (37-1012), tree work under Tree Trimmers and Pruners (37-3013), and vegetation spraying under Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation (37-3012). Self-employed landscapers are outside the OEWS survey entirely.
- Note:
- All wage figures are the 37-3011 rows of the May 2025 OEWS national and state cross-industry files. All projection figures are the 37-3011 row of the BLS 2024-2034 occupational projections table.
- Note:
- Supervisors (37-1012), tree workers (37-3013), and vegetation applicators (37-3012) are separate BLS occupations. Their medians appear in the comparison table above and are not blended into the landscaping figures.
- Coverage caveat:
- State tables list only the states with a published OEWS median for this occupation. BLS suppresses estimates that do not meet its disclosure or reliability standards, and published employment levels are rounded, so a published net change can differ slightly from the difference between the rounded 2024 and 2034 levels.
- Last reviewed:
- July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about landscaping and groundskeeping workers pay, answered from the published data.
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median annual wage for landscaping and groundskeeping workers was $39,150, or $18.82 an hour. Half of workers in the occupation earned more and half earned less. The separate arithmetic mean was $42,290 a year.
The published median hourly wage was $18.82 and the mean hourly wage was $20.33. Both figures cover employed grounds maintenance workers and exclude the self-employed, who are outside the OEWS survey.
Among the states in this guide, the highest May 2025 OEWS annual medians were Massachusetts at $48,670, Washington at $46,950, Colorado at $45,760, Connecticut at $45,740, and California at $45,560. These are occupation-wide state medians.
BLS reports supervisors as a separate occupation, First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers, with a May 2025 median of $58,430 a year. That is a different occupation with its own survey data rather than a pay band inside the landscaping worker figures.
BLS projects 3.6% growth between 2024 and 2034, from 1,192,500 to 1,235,000 positions. That is above the 3.1% projected for all occupations. The projection also implies an average of 158,200 openings a year, far more than the net increase, because turnover in this occupation is high.
Commercial pesticide application is regulated by state programs, which set the license categories, exams, and recertification cycles. Check the agriculture or environmental agency for the state where the work will be performed.
Not within this occupation. OEWS publishes wage percentiles for landscaping and groundskeeping workers as a whole. Designers, supervisors, tree workers, and vegetation applicators are counted in other occupations, and no credential is tied to a published wage premium.
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