- The middle half earn between $18.14 and $24.25 an hour.
- Only 7 states pay landscapers more at the median.
- Hawaii pays more than 1 of its 2 nearby states it is compared with.
- BLS counts about 7,040 landscapers on payrolls in Hawaii.
- At the state median wage, a landscaping business needs to bill about $109.36 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Landscaper pay in Hawaii, 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 | $16.45 | $34,220 | $14.98 |
| 25th percentile | $18.14 | $37,720 | $17.40 |
| Median | $22.08 | $45,920 | $18.82 |
| 75th percentile | $24.25 | $50,440 | $22.52 |
| 90th percentile | $27.01 | $56,190 | $27.28 |
| Average (mean) | $21.60 | $44,940 | $20.33 |
Pay is bunched up in Hawaii. The top tenth earn $27.01 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $16.45 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.8 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($16.45 against $14.98) but the ceiling is lower ($27.01 against $27.28), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($21.60) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Hawaii.
How Hawaii compares with other states
Over a full year, the Hawaii median of $45,920 is $6,770 more than the national $39,150.
In the state ranking, Hawaii sits 8th, between Maine ($22.10) and Colorado ($22.00). The range runs from $15.21 in Mississippi to $23.46 in the District of Columbia.
Hawaii has no land border, so it is set here against California and Alaska. Alaska pays more and California pays less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Hawaii. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Nearby state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $22.08 | $45,920 | |
| California | $21.90 | $45,560 | −$0.18 an hour |
| Alaska | $22.93 | $47,690 | +$0.85 an hour |
How many landscapers work in Hawaii
About 7,040 landscapers work on payrolls in Hawaii, 0.7% of the 952,640 nationwide, the 36th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 11.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Hawaii, 1.8 times the national share.
What a landscaping business in Hawaii should charge
Higher wages in Hawaii go straight into the price. Take a landscaping business in Hawaii paying the state median of $22.08 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 | $22.08 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $49,440 |
| Break-even rate | ($49,440 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $92.96 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $92.96 ÷ 0.85 | $109.36 |
That is $109.36 per billable hour, 5 times the wage, and $5.73 more than the $103.64 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $24.25 in Hawaii, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $113.18.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $18.14, the rate only drops to $102.45.
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 Hawaii
- Licensing. What Hawaii asks for before you can work on your own: Landscaping license in Hawaii.
- 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.