- The middle half earn between $24.73 and $28.68 an hour.
- New Hampshire ranks 12th of the 49 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- New Hampshire pays more than 1 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 330 tree trimmers on payrolls in New Hampshire.
- At the state median wage, a tree service needs to bill about $120.96 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Tree Trimmer pay in New Hampshire, 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 | $22.75 | $47,320 | $18.24 |
| 25th percentile | $24.73 | $51,450 | $21.56 |
| Median | $28.68 | $59,660 | $24.50 |
| 75th percentile | $28.68 | $59,660 | $30.72 |
| 90th percentile | $30.29 | $63,000 | $38.61 |
| Average (mean) | $27.28 | $56,750 | $26.91 |
Pay is bunched up in New Hampshire. The top tenth earn $30.29 an hour or more, about 1.3 times the $22.75 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 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 ($22.75 against $18.24) but the ceiling is lower ($30.29 against $38.61), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($27.28) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in New Hampshire.
How New Hampshire compares with other states
Over a full year, the New Hampshire median of $59,660 is $8,700 more than the national $50,960.
In the state ranking, New Hampshire sits 12th, between Rhode Island ($29.35) and Montana ($28.65). The range runs from $18.94 in Nebraska to $37.24 in Minnesota.
Against its neighboring states, New Hampshire is in the middle: Massachusetts and Vermont pay more, and Maine pays less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in New Hampshire. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | $28.68 | $59,660 | |
| Maine | $22.32 | $46,430 | −$6.36 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $30.07 | $62,550 | +$1.39 an hour |
| Vermont | $29.89 | $62,170 | +$1.21 an hour |
How many tree trimmers work in New Hampshire
About 330 tree trimmers work on payrolls in New Hampshire, 0.6% of the 55,160 nationwide, the 30th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in New Hampshire, 1.4 times the national share.
What a tree service in New Hampshire should charge
Higher wages in New Hampshire go straight into the price. Take a tree service in New Hampshire paying the state median of $28.68 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 | $28.68 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $64,218 |
| Break-even rate | ($64,218 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.81 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.81 ÷ 0.85 | $120.96 |
That is $120.96 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $7.34 more than the $113.61 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.68 in New Hampshire, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $120.96.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.73, the rate only drops to $114.02.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a tree trimmer in New Hampshire
- 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.