- The middle half earn between $13.79 and $26.61 an hour.
- Iowa is 45th of the 49 states with published figures, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Iowa pays more than 1 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 380 tree trimmers on payrolls in Iowa.
- At the state median wage, a tree service needs to bill about $106.80 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Tree Trimmer pay in Iowa, bottom to top
BLS calls this group tree trimmers and pruners. It covers climbers who cut and prune trees for homes, roads and utility lines, and includes utility arborists.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $9.83 | $20,440 | $18.24 |
| 25th percentile | $13.79 | $28,680 | $21.56 |
| Median | $20.62 | $42,890 | $24.50 |
| 75th percentile | $26.61 | $55,350 | $30.72 |
| 90th percentile | $32.95 | $68,530 | $38.61 |
| Average (mean) | $21.58 | $44,890 | $26.91 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Iowa. The bottom tenth earn $9.83 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $32.95 or more, a gap of 3.4 times against 2.1 nationally. Where a tree trimmer sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $8.41 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $5.66 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $21.58, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Iowa compares with other states
Over a full year, the Iowa median of $42,890 is $8,070 less than the national $50,960.
In the state ranking, Iowa sits 45th, between South Carolina ($20.99) and Mississippi ($19.98). The range runs from $18.94 in Nebraska to $37.24 in Minnesota.
Against its neighboring states, Iowa is in the middle: Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin pay more, and Nebraska pays less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
How many tree trimmers work in Iowa
About 380 tree trimmers work on payrolls in Iowa, 0.7% of the 55,160 nationwide, the 28th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.2 per 1,000 jobs, 0.69 times the national share.
What a tree service in Iowa should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a tree service in Iowa paying the state median of $20.62, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $20.62 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $46,171 |
| Break-even rate | ($46,171 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $90.78 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $90.78 ÷ 0.85 | $106.80 |
That is $106.80 per billable hour, 5.2 times the wage, and $6.81 less than the $113.61 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $26.61 in Iowa, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $117.32.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $13.79, the rate only drops to $94.81.
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 tree trimmer in Iowa
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how tree services 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 37-3013, tree trimmers and pruners, 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: tree trimmer salary by state.