- The middle half earn between $29.35 and $29.35 an hour.
- Rhode Island ranks 11th of the 49 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Rhode Island pays more than 1 of its 2 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 110 tree trimmers on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, a tree service needs to bill about $122.13 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Tree Trimmer pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $28.79 | $59,880 | $18.24 |
| 25th percentile | $29.35 | $61,040 | $21.56 |
| Median | $29.35 | $61,040 | $24.50 |
| 75th percentile | $29.35 | $61,060 | $30.72 |
| 90th percentile | $34.22 | $71,170 | $38.61 |
| Average (mean) | $29.40 | $61,150 | $26.91 |
Pay is bunched up in Rhode Island. The top tenth earn $34.22 an hour or more, about 1.2 times the $28.79 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 ($28.79 against $18.24) but the ceiling is lower ($34.22 against $38.61), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $29.40, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year, the Rhode Island median of $61,040 is $10,080 more than the national $50,960.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 11th, between Missouri ($29.40) and New Hampshire ($28.68). The range runs from $18.94 in Nebraska to $37.24 in Minnesota.
Against its neighboring states, Rhode Island is in the middle: Massachusetts pays more, and Connecticut pays less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Rhode Island. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $29.35 | $61,040 | |
| Connecticut | $23.52 | $48,930 | −$5.83 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $30.07 | $62,550 | +$0.72 an hour |
How many tree trimmers work in Rhode Island
Rhode Island has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 110 tree trimmers on payrolls, 0.2% of the 55,160 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.2 per 1,000 jobs, 0.64 times the national share.
What a tree service in Rhode Island should charge
Higher wages in Rhode Island go straight into the price. Take a tree service in Rhode Island paying the state median of $29.35 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 | $29.35 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $65,718 |
| Break-even rate | ($65,718 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $103.81 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $103.81 ÷ 0.85 | $122.13 |
That is $122.13 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $8.52 more than the $113.61 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.35 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.13.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $29.35, the rate only drops to $122.13.
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 Rhode Island
- 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.