Landscaping · Facts & Figures
U.S. Landscaping Workforce & Outdoor Water
Explore the landscaping workforce, occupation pay, and the scale of outdoor water use and irrigation-efficiency opportunities across U.S. homes and landscapes.
Interactive comparison
Landscaping employment by occupation
Switch between workforce size, pay, outdoor-water scale, and irrigation savings opportunities.
Landscaping workforce
Landscaping and groundskeeping account for most grounds-maintenance jobs
| Occupation | Employment | Mean hourly wage | Mean annual wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping & groundskeeping workers | 952,640 | $20.33 | $42,290 | $18.82 |
| Tree trimmers & pruners | 55,160 | $26.91 | $55,970 | $24.50 |
| Pesticide handlers, sprayers & applicators, vegetation | 27,050 | $22.63 | $47,070 | $22.28 |
| Grounds maintenance workers, all other | 13,630 | $23.48 | $48,830 | $22.53 |
| Grounds maintenance workers — total | 1,048,490 | $20.78 | $43,220 | $19.27 |
Outdoor water
Landscape irrigation is one of the largest residential water uses
Outdoor-water needs vary substantially by climate, plant type, landscape size, soil, rainfall, system design, and irrigation scheduling.
Irrigation efficiency
Better controls and maintenance can avoid thousands of gallons of water waste
EPA WaterSense also notes that well-managed irrigation can reduce annual household irrigation use by roughly 15%, or nearly 7,600 gallons in the cited benchmark.
What the data shows
Landscaping sits at the intersection of a million-worker industry and a major water-use decision
BLS counted more than one million grounds-maintenance workers in May 2025, with landscaping and groundskeeping workers representing about nine in ten jobs in the group. Tree-care and vegetation-application occupations are smaller but pay more on average.
EPA's outdoor-water data show why irrigation sizing, scheduling, pressure, and soil-moisture decisions matter: landscape irrigation accounts for billions of gallons of residential water use every day, while inefficient systems can waste a large share of the water applied.
Methodology & sources
About these figures
Workforce and wage estimates come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program for May 2025. OEWS estimates employment and wages by occupation and excludes self-employed workers. Outdoor-water and irrigation benchmarks come from U.S. EPA WaterSense materials and are national reference estimates rather than a water-use forecast for an individual property.
Sources: BLS — May 2025 National Employment and Wage Data · EPA WaterSense — Outdoors · EPA WaterSense — Statistics & Facts · EPA — Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Controllers.
CalculateMeasure refresh: Aug. 22, 2026 · Review cadence: Annual for BLS OEWS and source-triggered for EPA WaterSense reference updates.
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