State of the landscaping trade, 2026
What landscapers earn in every state, where the jobs are, how fast the work is projected to grow, which states license it and what typical landscaping jobs cost. Every figure comes from a public dataset or a koira.ai cost guide, with the method below and a CSV of the full table.
The short version
- The national median for landscapers is $18.82 an hour ($39,150 a year). Pay runs from $15.21 in Mississippi to $23.46 in District of Columbia.
- California has the most landscapers on payrolls, 106,180. See landscaper pay in every state.
- State labor offices project +3.6% more jobs nationally from 2022 to 2032, with about 156,600 openings a year. Utah leads at +35.2%.
- 10 of the 31 states koira.ai has checked require a state license for landscaping work, 18 license part of it and 3 leave it to cities and counties. The landscaping license guide has each state's steps.
- A typical landscaping is about $6,750 nationally in Koira's landscaping cost guide. By state, the Koira estimate runs from $5,973 in Mississippi to $7,749 in District of Columbia.
What landscapers earn
Median hourly wage by state, May 2025, the ten highest paying states. BLS published a median for 51 of the 50 states and DC.
The five lowest: Mississippi $15.21, West Virginia $15.50, Louisiana $16.76, South Dakota $17.01 and Alabama $17.13.
| Percentile | Hourly |
|---|---|
| 10th | $14.98 |
| 25th | $17.40 |
| Median | $18.82 |
| 75th | $22.52 |
| 90th | $27.28 |
What that wage means for a price
A wage is not a rate. Using the starting numbers of the free labor rate calculator (40 hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and a 15% profit), a business paying the national median has to bill about $103.64 an hour to cover it.
| Where | Median wage | Rate to bill |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $18.82 | $103.64 |
| District of Columbia, highest median | $23.46 | $111.79 |
| Mississippi, lowest median | $15.21 | $97.30 |
Change any of those numbers in the calculator to see your own rate. The CSV has the rate for every state.
Where the work is
The ten states with the most landscapers employed, May 2025.
Where the trade is most concentrated
Landscapers per 1,000 jobs of every kind in the state. A high number means the trade is a bigger share of local work than it is nationally.
Jobs outlook
State labor market offices project landscaping and groundskeeping workers jobs nationally to go from 1,176,100 in 2022 to 1,217,900 in 2032, a change of +3.6%, with about 156,600 openings a year from growth, retirements and people leaving the trade.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, on a newer base, projects 5% growth for grounds maintenance workers from 2025 to 2035, about 162,500 openings a year.
The ten states with the fastest projected growth, 2022 to 2032. Projections exist for 50 states.
Slowest: Michigan -0.9%, Maine +0.3% and Delaware +1.8%. The path into the trade, state by state, is in how to become a landscaper.
Licensing
Does the state require a state license for landscaping work? Each answer comes from the state's own board or statute.
- State license: 10 states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah.
- Partly licensed (residential only, above a dollar amount, or a registration): 18. Local only: 3. Not checked yet: 20.
- 13 of the 31 checked states put an insurance or bond rule in the license itself.
What landscaping jobs cost
National price ranges from Koira's cost guides. Each guide takes the low, average and high figures of two or more published cost guides and shows them.
| Job | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawn mowing | $60 | $130 | $200 |
| Lawn aeration | $80 | $140 | $250 |
| Lawn fertilization | $140 | $310 | $450 |
| Leaf removal | $170 | $340 | $570 |
| Land survey | $400 | $600 | $1,000 |
| Fire pit | $250 | $850 | $2,200 |
| Lawn seeding | $450 | $1,100 | $1,750 |
| Outdoor lighting installation | $2,500 | $3,500 | $5,000 |
| Artificial turf installation | $3,000 | $4,800 | $7,650 |
| Paver patio | $2,700 | $4,900 | $7,500 |
| Fountain installation | $1,050 | $5,400 | $10,000 |
| Retaining wall | $3,350 | $5,750 | $9,600 |
| Pond installation | $3,100 | $6,150 | $13,000 |
| Landscaping | $4,600 | $6,750 | $10,500 |
One job, state by state
Koira estimates of a typical landscaping in the ten most expensive states. Only the labor share of the price moves with the state's BLS wage; materials do not.
Every state
| State | Median hourly | Employed | Jobs 2022 to 2032 | State license | Typical landscaping |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $18.82 | 952,640 | +3.6% | 10 states | $6,750 |
| Alabama | $17.13 | 12,020 | +7.6% | Yes | $6,386 |
| Alaska | $22.93 | 1,080 | +5.8% | Yes | $7,634 |
| Arizona | $18.71 | 22,450 | +13.3% | Partly | $6,726 |
| Arkansas | $17.20 | 6,610 | +12.4% | Not checked yet | $6,401 |
| California | $21.90 | 106,180 | +19.9% | Yes | $7,413 |
| Colorado | $22.00 | 21,990 | +14.0% | Not checked yet | $7,434 |
| Connecticut | $21.99 | 13,490 | +14.6% | Partly | $7,432 |
| Delaware | $17.96 | 4,130 | +1.8% | Partly | $6,565 |
| District of Columbia | $23.46 | 800 | +11.1% | Not checked yet | $7,749 |
| Florida | $17.84 | 86,040 | +15.0% | Partly | $6,539 |
| Georgia | $18.25 | 25,510 | +14.1% | No, local only | $6,627 |
| Hawaii | $22.08 | 7,040 | Not published | Yes | $7,452 |
| Idaho | $20.00 | 7,980 | +14.8% | Partly | $7,004 |
| Illinois | $21.05 | 34,780 | +3.3% | Partly | $7,230 |
| Indiana | $18.30 | 19,260 | +4.1% | Not checked yet | $6,638 |
| Iowa | $18.71 | 8,800 | +6.4% | Not checked yet | $6,726 |
| Kansas | $18.91 | 9,480 | +5.1% | Not checked yet | $6,769 |
| Kentucky | $17.63 | 8,920 | +7.4% | Not checked yet | $6,494 |
| Louisiana | $16.76 | 8,510 | +2.4% | Yes | $6,307 |
| Maine | $22.10 | 6,410 | +0.3% | Not checked yet | $7,456 |
| Maryland | $18.93 | 17,440 | +6.8% | Partly | $6,774 |
| Massachusetts | $23.40 | 22,880 | +6.7% | Not checked yet | $7,736 |
| Michigan | $18.33 | 32,330 | -0.9% | Not checked yet | $6,645 |
| Minnesota | $22.41 | 17,610 | +6.3% | Not checked yet | $7,523 |
| Mississippi | $15.21 | 4,940 | +9.0% | Yes | $5,973 |
| Missouri | $18.52 | 18,310 | +4.8% | Not checked yet | $6,685 |
| Montana | $21.80 | 4,270 | +13.6% | Partly | $7,391 |
| Nebraska | $18.82 | 7,280 | +7.4% | Partly | $6,750 |
| Nevada | $18.66 | 9,980 | +16.2% | Yes | $6,716 |
| New Hampshire | $21.58 | 6,050 | +10.0% | Not checked yet | $7,344 |
| New Jersey | $19.88 | 30,470 | +6.4% | Partly | $6,978 |
| New Mexico | $18.06 | 5,030 | +15.6% | Partly | $6,586 |
| New York | $21.56 | 47,600 | +11.7% | Not checked yet | $7,340 |
| North Carolina | $18.22 | 32,730 | +11.6% | Yes | $6,621 |
| North Dakota | $19.61 | 2,100 | +11.1% | Partly | $6,920 |
| Ohio | $18.38 | 34,420 | +2.3% | Not checked yet | $6,655 |
| Oklahoma | $17.20 | 9,280 | +10.0% | No, local only | $6,401 |
| Oregon | $21.65 | 11,870 | +14.8% | Yes | $7,359 |
| Pennsylvania | $18.99 | 34,850 | +3.1% | Partly | $6,787 |
| Rhode Island | $21.51 | 4,040 | +6.4% | Partly | $7,329 |
| South Carolina | $17.65 | 15,600 | +11.6% | Not checked yet | $6,498 |
| South Dakota | $17.01 | 2,980 | +11.5% | Not checked yet | $6,360 |
| Tennessee | $17.80 | 18,250 | +12.8% | Partly | $6,530 |
| Texas | $17.66 | 63,430 | +16.7% | Partly | $6,500 |
| Utah | $19.59 | 12,850 | +35.2% | Yes | $6,916 |
| Vermont | $22.23 | 2,700 | +14.0% | Not checked yet | $7,484 |
| Virginia | $18.46 | 25,180 | +3.7% | Partly | $6,673 |
| Washington | $22.57 | 22,550 | +16.9% | Partly | $7,557 |
| West Virginia | $15.50 | 3,340 | +12.3% | No, local only | $6,036 |
| Wisconsin | $19.82 | 18,970 | +11.0% | Not checked yet | $6,965 |
| Wyoming | $18.42 | 1,790 | +24.1% | Not checked yet | $6,664 |
How this report is made
Pay and employment are cells from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics files for May 2025 (state file, national file), occupation code 37-3011, all industries. They count people on a payroll; owner-operators are not in them. A cell BLS did not publish reads "Not published" and is empty in the CSV.
The rate to bill is the labor rate calculator's formula with its starting assumptions listed above and only the wage changed: the yearly cost of the worker plus overhead, spread over the billable hours, then a profit margin on top.
Job projections are each state labor market office's long-term projection for 2022 to 2032, published together by Projections Central. A state missing from that file has no figure here. The national outlook line quotes the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Licensing counts only rows of the landscaping license guide that an official board or statute page confirmed. States not checked yet are shown that way, never guessed. This is not legal advice.
Job prices come from the koira.ai cost guides. The national band is worked out from the published guides each one lists. State prices are Koira estimates: the labor share of the band is scaled by the state's BLS median wage for the work over the national median, held to 0.7 to 1.4. See the job prices by state report for the same method across trades.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Grounds Maintenance Workers; Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2022 to 2032 (state labor market offices); Fixr, lawn mowing cost; HomeAdvisor, lawn mowing cost; Bob Vila, lawn mowing cost; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files); Fixr, lawn aeration cost; HomeAdvisor, lawn aeration cost; Today's Homeowner, lawn aeration cost; Bob Vila, lawn aeration cost; Fixr, lawn fertilization cost; HomeAdvisor, lawn fertilization cost; Fixr, leaf removal cost; HomeAdvisor, leaf removal cost; Fixr, land survey cost; HomeAdvisor, land survey cost; Bob Vila, land survey cost; Today's Homeowner, land survey cost; Fixr, fire pit cost; HomeAdvisor, fire pit cost; Fixr, lawn seeding cost; HomeAdvisor, lawn seeding cost; Today's Homeowner, lawn seeding cost; Fixr, outdoor lighting installation cost; HomeAdvisor, outdoor lighting installation cost; Fixr, artificial turf installation cost; Bob Vila, artificial turf installation cost; Fixr, paver patio cost; HomeAdvisor, paver patio cost; Bob Vila, paver patio cost; Fixr, fountain installation cost; HomeAdvisor, fountain installation cost; Fixr, retaining wall cost; HomeAdvisor, retaining wall cost; Bob Vila, retaining wall cost; Fixr, pond installation cost; Bob Vila, pond installation cost; Fixr, landscaping cost; HomeAdvisor, landscaping cost.
Running a landscaping business? See how landscaping businesses run on Koira, free on the Office plan.
Data as of: BLS wages and employment, May 2025. Job projections, 2022 to 2032 (Projections Central). License rows checked October 9, 2026. Cost guides checked October 9, 2026. All reports.