First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers Salary

The median first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers salary in the United States is $58,430 per year ($28.09/hour). Salaries range from $40,560 at the entry level to $85,650+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 130,760 first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to grow 2.3% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$58,430
per year
Hourly Rate
$28.09
per hour
Employment
130,760
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$40,560
25th percentile
$47,390
Median
$58,430
75th percentile
$72,590
90th percentile
$85,650

Job Growth (2024-2034)

+2.3%
As fast as average

Annual Openings

23,200
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

High school diploma or equivalent
+ Less than 5 years experience

First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workerss.

Landscape and grounds supervisors (crew foreman, golf course superintendent, HOA grounds supervisor, municipal parks crew leader) run 4-15 person field crews that install, maintain, and manage turf, ornamental beds, hardscape, and irrigation. Daily beat: routing crews, quality inspections, chemical applications (with a state license), irrigation troubleshooting, client walkthroughs, and payroll approvals. BLS median $58,430; entry (p10) $40,560; top (p90) $85,650; ~130,760 employed nationally. Commercial maintenance foremen (BrightView, Yellowstone, ValleyCrest) sit at the middle of the band; golf course superintendents and municipal park supervisors sit at the top with pension and health benefits. Bilingual Spanish is essentially non-negotiable in most metros.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Crew leadership & bilingual (Spanish) fluency
80-90% of field crews in commercial landscape are Spanish-speaking. Functional Spanish (safety terms, tool names, work sequences) is non-negotiable at BrightView, Yellowstone, ValleyCrest, and TruGreen. Read the room and adjust for team dynamics.
Route scheduling & GPS crew tracking
Aspire, LMN, Service Autopilot, or Real Green route optimization. Balance drive time, service window, chemical timing, and client priority. A well-routed crew of 4 finishes 12-18 stops/day; a poorly routed crew finishes 6-8.
Turfgrass agronomy (cool-season + warm-season)
Cool-season (Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass) north; warm-season (Bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine, centipede) south. Know mowing heights, fertilization windows (early spring pre-emergent, summer N, fall K), aeration timing, and disease pressure (dollar spot, brown patch, gray leaf spot).
Ornamental plant / arboriculture basics
Right plant right place. Prune timing (spring bloomers after flowering, summer bloomers late winter), disease ID, insect ID (aphids, spider mites, scale, borer, chinch bug). ISA Certified Arborist opens the door to premium accounts.
Irrigation troubleshooting
Rotors vs sprays, hydraulic zone design basics, controller programming (Rain Bird ESP, Hunter Pro-C, Toro TDC), MP Rotator retrofit for water efficiency. Diagnose no-flow (valve solenoid, wire break, master valve) and low-flow (dirty screen, pipe break, low PSI) issues fast.
Pesticide & herbicide licensing
State pesticide applicator license (structural / turf / ornamental categories). Read the label, follow the label, keep MSDS / SDS. Wrong application β†’ dead client turf β†’ lawsuit β†’ license suspension. This is a state-specific credential β€” TDA in Texas, DPR in California, DACS in Florida, MDA in Michigan, etc.
Estimating & job costing
Man-hours Γ— billed rate + material markup + equipment cost. Bid landscape enhancement jobs (mulch installs, seasonal color, hardscape) at 30-45% gross margin. Track actual vs bid hours weekly β€” a foreman who blows budget once loses a bonus, twice loses the job.
OSHA safety & equipment operation
OSHA 10, chainsaw safety (Z133), stump grinder, aerial lift (28-hour), skid steer certification, small-engine PPE. Zero-incident foremen get promoted; foremen with recordables don't. Heat-illness prevention is a genuine risk June through September in most metros.

How to Become a First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers

  1. 1
    Start as a landscape laborer / groundskeeper (0-2 yrs)
    $28-38k / $14-18/hr. Work at a commercial maintenance company (BrightView, Yellowstone, ValleyCrest / Ruppert, TruGreen), a municipal parks department, or a golf course. Learn plant ID, equipment operation, and the work sequence. Get state pesticide license as soon as you're eligible (usually 6-12 months of documented work under a licensed applicator).
  2. 2
    Move up to crew lead / senior laborer (2-4 yrs)
    $36-46k. Take on route ownership, minor client interaction, and equipment maintenance. Complete OSHA 10, chainsaw Z133, and pesticide applicator license. Start on an associate degree in Horticulture, Turfgrass Management, or Landscape Technology at a community college or land-grant extension (Rutgers Turf, Penn State, UGA, Michigan State certificate programs).
  3. 3
    Land the crew foreman / supervisor role (3-6 yrs)
    $48-65k base + $3-8k bonus at BrightView / Yellowstone / TruGreen. Golf course assistant superintendent $48-68k. Municipal parks crew leader $52-68k with pension and health. HOA grounds supervisor $52-70k. Bilingual Spanish is essentially required at commercial maintenance.
  4. 4
    Specialize (golf course superintendent, arborist, irrigation) or move to Account Manager
    $68-85k Sr Foreman / Account Manager (client-facing, book-of-business). $65-95k Golf Course Superintendent. $65-90k Municipal Parks Supervisor with pension. ISA Certified Arborist + irrigation cert (IA) open premium accounts and $8-15k pay bump.
  5. 5
    Advance to Branch Manager / Golf Course GM / Parks Director
    $85-135k Branch Manager at BrightView / Yellowstone (P&L for a $3-15M branch). $85-140k Head Golf Course Superintendent at a top-100 course. $95-155k Parks Director for a mid-sized city. VP Operations at the national chains $155-260k+ + equity.

Career Progression

Landscape Laborer / Groundskeeper
0-2 yrs$28,000-$38,000 ($14-18/hr) + OT during peak season
  • β€’Mow, trim, edge, blow, mulch, plant, and haul under crew lead direction
  • β€’Operate 21-inch and stand-on mowers, string trimmers, hedge shears, backpack blowers
  • β€’Load / unload equipment; complete daily equipment inspection and safety checks
  • β€’Complete OSHA 10 and small-engine PPE training within first 90 days
Next: Crew Lead at 2-3 years after mastering equipment and gaining Spanish or English communication fluency.
Crew Lead / Senior Laborer
2-4 yrs$36,000-$46,000 ($17-22/hr)
  • β€’Run a 2-3 person crew when the foreman is off-route
  • β€’Own quality checks, equipment maintenance, and daily route reporting
  • β€’Complete state pesticide applicator license (turf / ornamental)
  • β€’Cross-train on chainsaw (Z133), skid steer, and aerial lift operation
Next: Crew Foreman / Supervisor at 3-5 years once you have the license and a track record.
Crew Foreman / Grounds Supervisor
3-8 yrs$48,000-$68,000 base + bonus + company truck
  • β€’Lead a 4-8 person maintenance crew across 15-45 client accounts
  • β€’Run daily route, complete client walkthroughs, own quality and safety
  • β€’Approve payroll, submit route reports, escalate client issues to Account Manager
  • β€’Own equipment maintenance schedule and safety training for the crew
Next: Sr Foreman / Account Manager or Golf Course Assistant Superintendent at 5-10 years.
Sr Foreman / Account Manager / Assistant Superintendent
6-12 yrs$62,000-$85,650 base + bonus + company vehicle
  • β€’Own a book of business ($1.5-6M annual revenue) with 40-120 accounts
  • β€’Client renewal, upselling seasonal enhancements, and quarterly account reviews
  • β€’Manage 2-4 direct-report foremen and their crews
  • β€’Own account P&L: labor efficiency, materials, and gross margin targets
Next: Branch Manager / Head Superintendent at 10-15 years.
Branch Manager / Head Superintendent / Parks Director
10+ yrs$85,000-$155,000 base + 15-25% bonus + LTIP or pension
  • β€’P&L for a $3-15M branch (commercial) or a 100-500 acre grounds portfolio (parks / campus / golf)
  • β€’Hire, train, and retain a team of 30-150 (commercial) or 15-40 (parks / golf)
  • β€’Client executive relationships (property managers, HOA boards, city councils, golf course boards)
  • β€’Own safety program, fleet, and capital expenditure planning
Next: Regional Director / VP Operations at 15-20 years.

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 15 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. You show up Monday morning and your crew of 6 is short 2 people (called out). You have 14 accounts to hit today. What do you do?situational
Prioritize by client contract terms first β€” anniversary properties, executive relationships, and any account with SLA / penalty language get hit today no matter what. Cut mow-only routes to alternating weeks temporarily on lower-priority residential and communicate proactively to the Account Manager or clients before they call. Re-sequence so your 4-person crew hits high-touch commercial in the morning when quality matters most (property managers walk sites 8-10 AM) and less-visible sites in the afternoon. Call the branch to see if a floater crew or a Sr laborer from another route can flex. Then adjust the callout policy β€” 2 no-shows on the same day usually means a communication gap you can fix in Monday's morning tailgate. Employer names like BrightView, Yellowstone, and Ruppert Landscape all interview specifically for this scenario because it's every Monday in commercial maintenance.
Q2. A client says your crew is 'ruining the property.' Walk me through the next 24 hours.situational
Get to the property inside 4 hours, walk it with the client, and listen. Don't be defensive β€” assume there's a real issue somewhere. Common real issues: scalping on high spots (blade too low, wrong mower for the terrain), rutting from wet-day mows, string-line damage to tree bark, herbicide drift onto ornamentals, blow-off into pool or driveway. Document what you see with photos. Commit to a specific action with a date β€” 'I'll replace the 3 damaged shrubs by Friday at our expense; I'll swap the crew for the reset trim; I'll retrain the string-line operator on tree protection this week.' Follow up in writing within 24 hours. Then, on the internal side, coach the foreman and adjust the process β€” same crew making the same mistake on the next property is the real risk. Retaining a $60k / year commercial account by absorbing $500-2,000 in remediation is easy math. Losing the account and replacing it costs 3-5x that in acquisition.
Q3. Tell me about a time you turned around a poor-performing crew.behavioral
STAR. Situation: inherited a crew of 5 with 3 recordable safety incidents in the prior 6 months, 22% over-hours on their assigned routes, and 2 client complaints monthly. Task: 90 days to get it back on track. Action: individual conversations with each crew member first β€” understood who wanted to be there and who didn't. Reset expectations with a written 30-60-90 day plan. Restructured morning tailgate to cover the day's routes, the safety topic, and one specific coaching point. Re-sequenced the routes with actual GPS data and cut 45 minutes / day off drive time. Replaced 1 team member who didn't want to work with a laborer from a stronger crew. Result: zero incidents in 90 days, on-hours back to plan, one client complaint total in 6 months. Interviewers screen for you being honest about the tough conversations and the personnel change without blaming the previous foreman.
Q4. How do you handle a chemical application when the weather forecast is uncertain?technical
Read the label first β€” every product has a rainfast window (usually 1-4 hours for post-emergent herbicides, 24 hours for some fungicides). Check hourly radar (Weather Underground, RadarScope, or the NOAA point forecast β€” not the daily forecast) for the next 8 hours. If there's a real chance of rain inside the rainfast window, reschedule or move to a granular formulation if available. Wind matters too β€” most labels prohibit application above 10 mph or with variable direction. Document conditions in the application log (date, time, temp, wind speed / direction, adjuvant used). If you apply and it rains inside the window, decide fast whether to reapply β€” the failure mode is a dead lawn, not a survived one. State pesticide inspectors show up at random and want to see clean records; this is a license-suspension issue if you're sloppy. TruGreen and BrightView both run tight lawn-care compliance because state DOA / DPR fines are real.
Q5. Why supervisor and where do you see yourself in 5 years?closer
The honest answer: I want to run a book of business and lead people, not just do the work. Commercial maintenance and municipal parks both offer real career ladders β€” foreman to account manager or branch manager to regional. In 5 years I want to be an Account Manager at BrightView or Yellowstone with a $2-4M book, ISA Certified Arborist, and my irrigation certification, or a Golf Course Superintendent at a top-200 course. I'm not planning to leave the industry β€” this is a long game where reputation and client relationships compound. Naming a specific employer, a specific credential path, and a specific book-size target signals you've thought about the trade as a career, not just a paycheck.

Resume Template β€” Crew Foreman / Grounds Supervisor (3-8 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Crew Foreman / Grounds Supervisor (3-8 yrs)
  • β–ΈForeman at BrightView Landscape Services in the Austin metro; ran 6-person maintenance crew across 38 commercial and HOA accounts.
  • β–ΈDelivered 96% client retention in FY24 (branch avg 88%) and 4.6 / 5.0 quality inspection score.
  • β–ΈHeld labor efficiency to 102% of budget through GPS-based route re-sequencing (cut 42 min / day drive time) and daily tailgate cadence.
  • β–ΈTexas Structural Pest Control (TDA), OSHA 30, chainsaw Z133, aerial lift 28-hr. Bilingual English / Spanish. $58k base + $6k retention bonus + company F-150.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—No functional Spanish in a market where 80%+ of the crew is Spanish-speaking β€” this is a hiring knockout at BrightView, Yellowstone, ValleyCrest.
  • βœ—No pesticide applicator license or lets it lapse β€” the crew can't legally spray without a licensed applicator on the truck.
  • βœ—Sloppy documentation (application logs, safety huddles, client communications) β€” state DOA / DPR audits catch this and license suspension follows.
  • βœ—Cannot bid a job or read a P&L β€” Account Manager and Branch Manager rungs both require this and untrained foremen stall out.
  • βœ—Confrontational with clients β€” the property manager, HOA board member, or homeowner is right until you can prove otherwise, and confrontation loses accounts.
  • βœ—History of heat illness incidents on the crew β€” heat safety programs are legally required in California, Colorado, and Oregon; industry standard everywhere.
  • βœ—Truck / equipment abuse in prior roles β€” Ruppert, Yellowstone, and BrightView all check fleet-abuse history via industry references.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Book of business β€” Account Managers moving between commercial maintenance companies can port a book (with client consent) and negotiate 15-25% signing premium; foremen with strong client relationships have moderate leverage.
  • βœ“Credentials β€” ISA Certified Arborist ($8-15k pay bump), IA Certified Irrigation Technician ($5-10k), state pesticide applicator license ($3-8k differential), TCIA CTSP for tree care ($5-10k).
  • βœ“Truck / vehicle allowance β€” a company truck (F-150 / Silverado / Ram 1500) is standard for foremen; if not provided, expect $600-1,000 / month vehicle allowance.
  • βœ“Fuel card + phone stipend β€” often overlooked; $250-500 / month effective compensation.
  • βœ“Bonus structure β€” retention bonus (tied to account renewal), profitability bonus (tied to labor efficiency), and safety bonus (tied to zero recordables) can add $6-15k / year at branch level.
  • βœ“Seasonality β€” northern markets (Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis) have snow / ice work that adds 20-40 hours / week Nov-Mar at premium rates; negotiate the winter split clearly.
  • βœ“Municipal / public-sector positions offer lower base (10-15% below commercial) but pension, health, and paid time off worth $15-30k / year in effective comp β€” a real long-term wealth differential.
  • βœ“Golf course superintendent positions on top-100 courses come with housing allowance ($800-2,500 / month), club membership, and continuing education budget β€” ask for the full package, not just base.

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First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$47K
$74Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Delaware
$74K
+27%
Washington
$72K
+23%
New York
$71K
+21%
Oregon
$71K
+21%
New Jersey
$69K
+17%
District of Columbia
$68K
+17%
Alaska
$68K
+16%
Vermont
$67K
+14%
New Hampshire
$64K
+10%
Massachusetts
$64K
+9%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Delaware$74,340+27.2%
Washington$71,930+23.1%
New York$70,760+21.1%
Oregon$70,560+20.8%
New Jersey$68,580+17.4%
District of Columbia$68,300+16.9%
Alaska$67,760+16.0%
Vermont$66,810+14.3%
New Hampshire$64,340+10.1%
Massachusetts$63,750+9.1%
1–10 of 51

First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Salinas, CA$78,730+34.7%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$76,990+31.8%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA$76,910+31.6%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$76,490+30.9%
Vallejo, CA$76,220+30.4%
Napa, CA$75,040+28.4%
Dover, DE$75,000+28.4%
Anchorage, AK$74,690+27.8%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$74,610+27.7%
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$73,670+26.1%
1–10 of 349
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers earning $58,430/year would need 1020 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 1095 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’