- The middle half earn between $22.83 and $26.80 an hour.
- No state pays landscapers more at the median.
- The District of Columbia pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 800 landscapers on payrolls in the District of Columbia.
- At the state median wage, a landscaping business needs to bill about $111.79 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Landscaper pay in the District of Columbia, bottom to top
BLS calls this group landscaping and groundskeeping workers. It covers lawn crews, planting and hardscape helpers and groundskeepers at schools, parks and offices.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.74 | $38,980 | $14.98 |
| 25th percentile | $22.83 | $47,490 | $17.40 |
| Median | $23.46 | $48,790 | $18.82 |
| 75th percentile | $26.80 | $55,750 | $22.52 |
| 90th percentile | $31.97 | $66,500 | $27.28 |
| Average (mean) | $24.62 | $51,200 | $20.33 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.74) to the top tenth ($31.97), the top of the scale pays about 1.7 times the bottom in the District of Columbia, close to the 1.8 times spread for landscapers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $18.74 against $14.98 at the bottom tenth, and $31.97 against $27.28 at the top.
The average, $24.62, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How the District of Columbia compares with other states
Over a full year, the the District of Columbia median of $48,790 is $9,640 more than the national $39,150.
No state pays more. The next highest is Massachusetts at $23.40, and the lowest is Mississippi at $15.21.
The District of Columbia pays landscapers more than any of its neighboring states, Maryland and Virginia. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in the District of Columbia. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many landscapers work in the District of Columbia
The District of Columbia has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 800 landscapers on payrolls, under 0.1% of the 952,640 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 1.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.19 times the national share.
What a landscaping business in the District of Columbia should charge
Higher wages in the District of Columbia go straight into the price. Take a landscaping business in the District of Columbia paying the state median of $23.46 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $23.46 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $52,530 |
| Break-even rate | ($52,530 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.02 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.02 ÷ 0.85 | $111.79 |
That is $111.79 per billable hour, 4.8 times the wage, and $8.15 more than the $103.64 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $26.80 in the District of Columbia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $117.65.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.83, the rate only drops to $110.68.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a landscaper in the District of Columbia
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how landscaping companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 37-3011, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: landscaper salary by state.