The average landscaper in the United States earns $42,290 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $39,150. That works out at about $20.33 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: District of Columbia averages $51,200 and Mississippi $33,520. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a landscaper actually does for that money
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers is one of the largest occupations in the country and it is dominated by maintenance crews rather than by designers or hardscapers. Crew leaders and supervisors are counted separately and earn considerably more.
What landscapers earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $31,150 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $36,190 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $39,150 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $46,830 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $56,730 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Landscaping salary by state
District of Columbia pays the most at $51,200 a year, and Mississippi the least at $33,520. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $51,200 | $48,790 | $24.62 | 800 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $50,540 | $48,670 | $24.30 | 22,880 |
| 3 | Washington | $49,130 | $46,950 | $23.62 | 22,550 |
| 4 | California | $47,420 | $45,560 | $22.80 | 106,180 |
| 5 | Vermont | $47,340 | $46,230 | $22.76 | 2,700 |
| 6 | Alaska | $47,280 | $47,690 | $22.73 | 1,080 |
| 7 | Colorado | $46,840 | $45,760 | $22.52 | 21,990 |
| 8 | Minnesota | $46,200 | $46,610 | $22.21 | 17,610 |
| 9 | Connecticut | $46,060 | $45,740 | $22.15 | 13,490 |
| 10 | Oregon | $45,840 | $45,040 | $22.04 | 11,870 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $45,710 | $44,890 | $21.98 | 6,050 |
| 12 | New York | $45,620 | $44,840 | $21.93 | 47,600 |
| 13 | Montana | $45,550 | $45,350 | $21.90 | 4,270 |
| 14 | Rhode Island | $45,390 | $44,730 | $21.82 | 4,040 |
| 15 | Maine | $45,140 | $45,970 | $21.70 | 6,410 |
| 16 | Hawaii | $44,940 | $45,920 | $21.60 | 7,040 |
| 17 | Illinois | $44,800 | $43,790 | $21.54 | 34,780 |
| 18 | North Dakota | $43,750 | $40,790 | $21.04 | 2,100 |
| 19 | Nevada | $43,520 | $38,820 | $20.92 | 9,980 |
| 20 | Maryland | $43,400 | $39,380 | $20.86 | 17,440 |
| 21 | New Jersey | $43,310 | $41,360 | $20.82 | 30,470 |
| 22 | Idaho | $42,810 | $41,600 | $20.58 | 7,980 |
| 23 | Utah | $42,800 | $40,740 | $20.58 | 12,850 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $42,740 | $41,230 | $20.55 | 18,970 |
| 25 | Nebraska | $42,340 | $39,140 | $20.36 | 7,280 |
| 26 | Arizona | $41,560 | $38,910 | $19.98 | 22,450 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $41,490 | $39,500 | $19.95 | 34,850 |
| 28 | Iowa | $41,260 | $38,920 | $19.84 | 8,800 |
| 29 | Virginia | $40,770 | $38,410 | $19.60 | 25,180 |
| 30 | Missouri | $40,690 | $38,520 | $19.56 | 18,310 |
| 31 | Michigan | $40,550 | $38,120 | $19.49 | 32,330 |
| 32 | Kansas | $40,530 | $39,330 | $19.49 | 9,480 |
| 33 | Indiana | $40,020 | $38,070 | $19.24 | 19,260 |
| 34 | Ohio | $39,890 | $38,220 | $19.18 | 34,420 |
| 35 | Delaware | $39,680 | $37,350 | $19.08 | 4,130 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $39,660 | $37,560 | $19.07 | 5,030 |
| 37 | North Carolina | $39,600 | $37,910 | $19.04 | 32,730 |
| 38 | Wyoming | $39,140 | $38,310 | $18.82 | 1,790 |
| 39 | Florida | $39,110 | $37,100 | $18.80 | 86,040 |
| 40 | Tennessee | $38,600 | $37,020 | $18.56 | 18,250 |
| 41 | Georgia | $38,500 | $37,970 | $18.51 | 25,510 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $38,140 | $36,670 | $18.34 | 8,920 |
| 43 | Texas | $37,990 | $36,740 | $18.27 | 63,430 |
| 44 | South Carolina | $37,520 | $36,710 | $18.04 | 15,600 |
| 45 | South Dakota | $36,600 | $35,370 | $17.60 | 2,980 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | $36,250 | $35,770 | $17.43 | 9,280 |
| 47 | Alabama | $36,100 | $35,630 | $17.36 | 12,020 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $36,070 | $35,770 | $17.34 | 6,610 |
| 49 | Louisiana | $34,150 | $34,870 | $16.42 | 8,510 |
| 50 | West Virginia | $33,870 | $32,240 | $16.29 | 3,340 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $33,520 | $31,630 | $16.12 | 4,940 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying landscapers the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $54,470 | $26.19 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $53,720 | $25.83 |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $51,910 | $24.96 |
| 4 | Napa, CA | $51,370 | $24.70 |
| 5 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $51,250 | $24.64 |
| 6 | Barnstable Town, MA | $50,970 | $24.51 |
| 7 | Fairbanks-College, AK | $50,960 | $24.50 |
| 8 | Bozeman, MT | $50,620 | $24.34 |
| 9 | Boulder, CO | $50,580 | $24.32 |
| 10 | Worcester, MA | $49,600 | $23.85 |
What moves the number
- Pesticide application requires a state license; the rest of the work generally does not. Irrigation and landscape architecture are licensed separately in many states.
- Seasonal in most of the country, which is why crews chase snow removal, holiday lighting or leaf work to hold their people through the winter.
- Design-build, hardscaping and irrigation pay well above maintenance mowing, and commercial contracts pay steadier than either.
- The bottom ten percent of landscapers earn under $31,150 and the top ten percent clear $56,730. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed landscapers on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a landscaper wage and an owner income opens up.
Landscaping salary FAQs
- How much do landscapers make a year?
- The median landscaper in the United States earns $39,150 a year and the average is $42,290, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do landscapers make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $20.33. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays landscapers the most?
- District of Columbia pays the most at an average of $51,200 a year, followed by Massachusetts at $50,540 and Washington at $49,130. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay landscapers the most?
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA tops the list at an average of $54,470 a year, with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at $53,720. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can landscapers earn six figures?
- As an employee it is uncommon: the top ten percent earn $56,730. Owners are a different question, because they are paid on the job rather than on the hour, and owner income is not in these figures.
- Do these figures include self-employed landscapers?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this landscaping salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers" (SOC 37-3011). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
