Pay and rates

What landscapers earn, and what to charge

National and state pay for landscapers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), plus a calculator to turn a wage into an hourly rate for your own business.

Quick answer

Landscapers in the US earn a median of $18.82 an hour ($39,150 a year), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2025. The middle half earn $17.40 to $22.52. Self-employed landscapers usually bill more, about $43 an hour at the median wage, to cover taxes, overhead, unbilled time, and profit.

Landscapers pay in the US

Hourly wages for 952,640 employed landscapers, May 2025.

Hourly pay percentiles for landscapers in the United States
Lowest 10%25th percentileMedian75th percentileTop 10%
$14.98 $17.40 $18.82 $22.52 $27.28

Turn a wage into a billing rate

Wages above are what employers pay landscapers. If you work for yourself, your rate also has to cover what an employer would pay for. Change any number to match your business.

Starts at the national median for landscapers

Self-employment tax, liability insurance, benefits

Hours you can charge for after quotes, travel, and admin

Tools, vehicle, software, marketing

What the business keeps after paying you

Suggested billing rate

$43 per hour

Pay x (1 + taxes) x (1 + overhead) x (1 + profit), divided by billable time. This is an estimate to start from, not a market price.

Use this rate in an estimate

Pay by state

Median hourly pay in the 51 states with published data, highest first.

Hourly pay for landscapers by state
State Median Middle half Employed
District of Columbia $23.46 $22.83 to $26.80 800
Massachusetts $23.40 $21.82 to $28.13 22,880
Alaska $22.93 $18.49 to $23.62 1,080
Washington $22.57 $20.68 to $27.12 22,550
Minnesota $22.41 $17.77 to $24.19 17,610
Vermont $22.23 $20.01 to $23.79 2,700
Maine $22.10 $18.30 to $23.25 6,410
Hawaii $22.08 $18.14 to $24.25 7,040
Colorado $22.00 $19.20 to $23.50 21,990
Connecticut $21.99 $18.05 to $23.39 13,490
California $21.90 $18.47 to $24.27 106,180
Montana $21.80 $17.93 to $24.47 4,270
Oregon $21.65 $18.76 to $23.26 11,870
New Hampshire $21.58 $18.39 to $24.27 6,050
New York $21.56 $18.05 to $23.33 47,600
Rhode Island $21.51 $19.00 to $22.36 4,040
Illinois $21.05 $17.60 to $22.58 34,780
Idaho $20.00 $17.79 to $22.78 7,980
New Jersey $19.88 $17.78 to $22.75 30,470
Wisconsin $19.82 $17.35 to $22.81 18,970
North Dakota $19.61 $17.23 to $24.22 2,100
Utah $19.59 $17.91 to $22.51 12,850
Pennsylvania $18.99 $17.26 to $22.40 34,850
Maryland $18.93 $17.85 to $22.12 17,440
Kansas $18.91 $17.15 to $22.39 9,480
Nebraska $18.82 $17.61 to $22.84 7,280
Arizona $18.71 $17.92 to $21.69 22,450
Iowa $18.71 $15.47 to $22.23 8,800
Nevada $18.66 $17.62 to $22.52 9,980
Missouri $18.52 $17.22 to $21.78 18,310
Virginia $18.46 $17.10 to $21.46 25,180
Wyoming $18.42 $15.19 to $21.89 1,790
Ohio $18.38 $16.99 to $21.94 34,420
Michigan $18.33 $17.18 to $22.25 32,330
Indiana $18.30 $16.93 to $22.16 19,260
Georgia $18.25 $16.52 to $21.33 25,510
North Carolina $18.22 $17.23 to $21.40 32,730
New Mexico $18.06 $16.72 to $21.52 5,030
Delaware $17.96 $17.45 to $21.62 4,130
Florida $17.84 $17.03 to $20.99 86,040
Tennessee $17.80 $16.75 to $20.98 18,250
Texas $17.66 $15.68 to $19.84 63,430
South Carolina $17.65 $15.39 to $20.50 15,600
Kentucky $17.63 $15.02 to $21.31 8,920
Arkansas $17.20 $14.49 to $18.76 6,610
Oklahoma $17.20 $15.01 to $19.29 9,280
Alabama $17.13 $14.26 to $18.54 12,020
South Dakota $17.01 $14.76 to $18.87 2,980
Louisiana $16.76 $14.24 to $17.78 8,510
West Virginia $15.50 $14.36 to $17.59 3,340
Mississippi $15.21 $13.54 to $17.99 4,940

States are left out when BLS does not publish an estimate for them.

Landscapers pay FAQ

How much do landscapers make an hour?

The national median is $18.82 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earn under $14.98 and the top 10% earn over $27.28. Pay depends on location, experience, and specialty.

Which state pays landscapers the most?

District of Columbia has the highest median at $23.46 an hour, and Mississippi the lowest at $15.21, among the 51 states with published data. Higher-paying states usually have higher living costs too.

How much should a self-employed landscaper charge per hour?

Start from the pay you want, then add taxes and insurance, overhead, and profit, and divide by the share of hours you can bill. At the median wage and our default assumptions, that comes to about $43 an hour. Use the calculator on this page to plug in your own numbers.

Where does this pay data come from?

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), occupation "Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers". It covers employees on payrolls, not self-employed workers or business owners.

Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 37-3011 "Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers". Figures are wages for employees and do not include self-employed workers. The billing rate is our estimate using the assumptions in the calculator.

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