Tree work pay by city: US metro areas and Canadian regions
Official wage figures for tree trimmers and pruners in US metropolitan areas and for arborists in Canadian economic regions, with the statistic and year each figure covers. These are published medians and means, not job offers.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 6, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
The guide on pay by state and province gives one figure for each US state and Canadian province, and the guide on pay in each country gives the national picture. This guide goes down one more level. It lists official wage figures for US metropolitan areas and for Canadian economic regions, so a reader can see how far a state or province figure hides the difference between a big city and the rest.
Every figure is an average or a median for a named job title, from a government survey. None is an offer, a minimum or a promise of what a given employer pays.
What the figures cover
- United States: tree trimmers and pruners, code 37-3013 in the federal job classification. The source is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (OEWS), May 2025 estimates. Areas are metropolitan statistical areas as the survey defines them.
- Canada: Arborist, code 22114 in the national occupation classification, from the Job Bank wage report, updated November 19, 2025. Job Bank gives hourly wages only, and the reference year of each region is shown beside it.
The two titles are not the same job. The US title covers people who trim or prune trees. The Canadian code is wider: it groups arborists and tree service technicians with landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists, so a Canadian figure includes some work that is not tree climbing.
United States: top paying metro areas
The table ranks metro areas by the mean wage, which is the total pay divided by the number of workers. A few very high or very low paid workers move a mean more than a median. The median, the middle wage where half earn more and half earn less, is given for the other tables. Only metro areas with a published mean are ranked, and some of the small ones have very few workers in the survey.
| Metro area | Mean an hour | Mean a year |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | US$36.82 | US$76,580 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | US$35.66 | US$74,180 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | US$35.44 | US$73,710 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | US$35.04 | US$72,870 |
| Syracuse, NY | US$34.71 | US$72,190 |
| Salem, OR | US$34.49 | US$71,740 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | US$33.91 | US$70,530 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | US$33.85 | US$70,410 |
| Eugene-Springfield, OR | US$33.56 | US$69,800 |
| Boise City, ID | US$33.48 | US$69,630 |
Seven of the ten are on the West Coast. For Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington and Boise City the survey does not publish the number of people employed, and Santa Rosa-Petaluma and Eugene-Springfield count only a few hundred workers or fewer.
United States: metro areas with the most jobs
This table ranks metro areas by the number of tree trimmers and pruners the survey counts. Metro areas where the count is not published are left out. The last column is the median wage an hour.
| Metro area | People employed | Median an hour |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 3,150 | US$29.06 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 2,120 | US$19.07 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 1,580 | US$30.26 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 1,270 | US$28.97 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 1,160 | US$36.33 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 1,060 | US$30.19 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 990 | US$36.53 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 800 | US$19.14 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 800 | US$30.53 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 710 | US$30.49 |
The same job title pays very differently between these ten. Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth sit near US$19 an hour at the median, and Portland and San Francisco sit above US$36.
United States: the 30 largest metro areas
The 30 largest metro areas by population are taken from the Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2024, largest first. The wage columns are medians from the OEWS survey. The median hourly wage and the median yearly wage are separate published figures, so one is not exactly the other times a fixed number of hours.
| Metro area, largest first | Median an hour | Median a year |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | US$31.31 | US$65,130 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | US$29.06 | US$60,440 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | US$30.89 | US$64,260 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | US$19.14 | US$39,800 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | US$19.07 | US$39,660 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | US$23.34 | US$48,540 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | US$24.86 | US$51,700 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | US$24.17 | US$50,280 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | US$30.26 | US$62,940 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | US$24.36 | US$50,680 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | US$30.19 | US$62,780 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | US$30.53 | US$63,500 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | US$36.53 | US$75,980 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | US$28.05 | US$58,350 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | US$32.75 | US$68,110 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | US$37.24 | US$77,460 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | US$13.00 | US$27,040 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | US$30.49 | US$63,410 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | US$28.44 | US$59,150 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | US$20.20 | US$42,020 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | US$22.48 | US$46,750 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | US$22.70 | US$47,210 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | US$30.27 | US$62,950 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | US$17.54 | US$36,490 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | US$21.73 | US$45,200 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | US$36.33 | US$75,570 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | US$28.97 | US$60,260 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | US$22.94 | US$47,710 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | US$24.62 | US$51,200 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | US$23.92 | US$49,760 |
Reading the metro figures
- The spread between these metro areas is large. Among the 30, the median runs from US$13.00 an hour in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater to US$37.24 an hour in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington.
- Tampa shows a median far below its mean of US$17.71 an hour.
- Mean and median can sit far apart in either direction. Boston shows a median of US$30.19 an hour against a mean of US$33.11, while Atlanta shows a median of US$24.17 against a mean of US$23.37.
- The survey does not publish the number of people employed for six of these 30 metro areas: New York, Phoenix, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Charlotte and Pittsburgh. Their wages are published; the head count is not.
- A metro figure is for the whole survey area, which can reach far outside the city. Prices and work differ inside it.
O*NET OnLine prints the same BLS 2025 wage data state by state, with the metro areas of each state listed under it. The O*NET wage page lists every other metro area.
Canada: regions of each province
Job Bank splits each province into economic regions, which are groups of census divisions. The table shows the largest regions of each province that has a published figure. Low and high are the lower and upper ends of the wage range on the report, and the median is the middle wage. All wages are in Canadian dollars an hour, before tax. For the whole of Canada the report gives a median of CA$30.00 an hour, from CA$21.00 to CA$40.87, for 2023 to 2024.
| Region and year | Median an hour | Low to high |
|---|---|---|
| Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador (2024) | CA$25.88 | CA$17.23 to CA$41.00 |
| Prince Edward Island, whole province (2024) | CA$26.11 | CA$20.02 to CA$36.13 |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia (2024) | CA$24.79 | CA$18.43 to CA$34.90 |
| Moncton-Richibucto, New Brunswick (2024) | CA$25.19 | CA$17.89 to CA$33.17 |
| Saint John-St. Stephen, New Brunswick (2024) | CA$25.21 | CA$19.07 to CA$33.23 |
| Fredericton-Oromocto, New Brunswick (2024) | CA$25.25 | CA$19.56 to CA$35.60 |
| Montreal, Quebec (2024) | CA$28.42 | CA$19.97 to CA$40.35 |
| Capitale-Nationale, Quebec (2024) | CA$26.91 | CA$18.90 to CA$37.00 |
| Montérégie, Quebec (2024) | CA$28.89 | CA$21.09 to CA$38.95 |
| Toronto, Ontario (2023 to 2024) | CA$30.00 | CA$22.00 to CA$36.00 |
| Ottawa, Ontario (2024) | CA$28.28 | CA$18.46 to CA$39.71 |
| Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie, Ontario (2024) | CA$30.48 | CA$24.31 to CA$42.11 |
| Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (2023 to 2024) | CA$31.05 | CA$18.00 to CA$34.13 |
| London, Ontario (2024) | CA$29.82 | CA$19.54 to CA$49.47 |
| Windsor-Sarnia, Ontario (2024) | CA$28.36 | CA$19.68 to CA$40.07 |
| Winnipeg, Manitoba (2023 to 2024) | CA$21.50 | CA$18.00 to CA$27.00 |
| Calgary, Alberta (2023 to 2024) | CA$23.00 | CA$18.25 to CA$33.00 |
| Edmonton, Alberta (2023 to 2024) | CA$23.00 | CA$18.00 to CA$30.48 |
| Red Deer, Alberta (2023 to 2024) | CA$24.00 | CA$18.24 to CA$32.00 |
| Lower Mainland-Southwest, British Columbia (2023 to 2024) | CA$25.00 | CA$20.00 to CA$33.00 |
| Vancouver Island and Coast, British Columbia (2023 to 2024) | CA$25.00 | CA$20.00 to CA$33.28 |
| Thompson-Okanagan, British Columbia (2023 to 2024) | CA$25.05 | CA$20.00 to CA$32.00 |
Reading the Canadian figures
- Most 2024 figures come from a Statistics Canada model for small areas, so they are estimates and not a count of what employers pay. The 2023 to 2024 figures come from the Labour Force Survey or from Employment Insurance survey data, as the report states for each line.
- Where a region repeats its province exactly, as Winnipeg does for Manitoba and Lower Mainland-Southwest does for British Columbia, the figures are identical.
- Saskatchewan has only a province figure on the report, from the 2021 Census: a median of CA$24.28 an hour, from CA$15.70 to CA$36.19. Two of its regions show a median only, Regina-Moose Mountain at CA$23.77 and Saskatoon-Biggar at CA$25.73, also from the 2021 Census.
- The Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut show N/A. Many northern and rural regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia show N/A too, and Job Bank points readers to the provincial figure.
- The report does not give a mean or a yearly wage, so no yearly column is shown.
United Kingdom
This guide has no UK city table. The National Careers Service job profile for tree surgeons gives one starter figure and one experienced figure for the whole UK. The Office for National Statistics does publish pay by region and four-digit occupation in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, as its Table 15, and many regional cells for small occupations are not published or are marked unreliable. The UK minimum wage rates by age are on the GOV.UK rates page. The UK numbers are in the guide on pay in each country.
Australia
This guide has no Australian city table. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award, which covers employers throughout Australia in the gardening and landscaping services industry, with minimum rates by classification level. The numbers are in the guide on pay in each country.
New Zealand
The Tahatu careers site gives national hourly bands for arborists, and Employment New Zealand sets one adult minimum wage for the whole country. The numbers are in the guide on pay in each country.
Where to look next
- Open the Job Bank arborist wage report to see every economic region, with the method note for each source.
- Read the guide on finding climbing work to see what employers ask for.
- Read the guide on working abroad if you are weighing a move between countries.
To see the layout of a listing, open the sample jobs board. Its jobs are samples, not real offers.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 metropolitan area estimates (tree trimmers and pruners, 37-3013)
- US Census Bureau, metropolitan statistical area population estimates, July 1, 2024
- O*NET OnLine, wages for tree trimmers and pruners, California page, BLS 2025 wage data, read October 6, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, wages for tree trimmers and pruners, Texas page, BLS 2025 wage data, read October 6, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, wages for tree trimmers and pruners, New York page, BLS 2025 wage data, read October 6, 2026
- Job Bank (Government of Canada), wage report for Arborist, NOC 22114, wages updated November 19, 2025, read October 6, 2026
- National Careers Service (UK government), tree surgeon job profile, read October 6, 2026
- Office for National Statistics, ASHE Table 15, pay by region and four-digit occupation, 2025 provisional
- GOV.UK, national minimum wage and national living wage rates, read October 6, 2026
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 [MA000101], read October 6, 2026
- Tahatu (New Zealand government careers), arborist, read October 6, 2026
- Employment New Zealand, minimum wage is increasing on April 1, 2026, read October 6, 2026