Tree work pay by US state and Canadian province
Official wage figures for tree trimmers and pruners in each US state and for arborists in each Canadian province, with the job title and year each figure covers. These are published medians and ranges, not job offers.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 5, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
The national figures for tree work are in the guide on pay in each country. This guide goes one level down. It lists the official wage figure for every US state that has one, and for every Canadian province. The UK, Australia and New Zealand have no figures here because their official pay sources are not split by region in the same way.
Every figure below is an average or a median for a named job title in a named year. None of them is an offer, a minimum or a promise of what a given employer pays.
What the figures cover
- United States: the job title tree trimmers and pruners, code 37-3013 in the federal job classification. The data is the BLS 2025 wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Canada: the job title Arborist, code 22114 in the national occupation classification. The data is Job Bank wages, updated on November 19, 2025.
The titles are not the same job. The US title covers people who trim or prune trees; it does not name climbers separately. The Canadian code is wider than climbing crews: its own title is landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists.
United States
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes these wages. The O*NET wage pages for tree trimmers and pruners print the BLS 2025 data. The pages said the site was updated on August 25, 2026. O*NET shows each state on its own page, and the table below copies one line from each.
The median is the middle wage: half of workers earn more and half earn less. Low is the tenth percentile, so a tenth of workers earn that figure or less. High is the ninetieth, so a tenth earn that figure or more. All figures are annual, before tax. For the whole United States the median is US$50,960 a year, from US$37,940 to US$80,310.
| State | Median a year | Low to high |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | US$41,500 | US$33,350 to US$57,390 |
| Arizona | US$50,680 | US$37,510 to US$59,360 |
| Arkansas | US$45,650 | US$28,950 to US$67,920 |
| California | US$62,550 | US$35,750 to US$92,270 |
| Colorado | US$51,390 | US$47,600 to US$61,660 |
| Connecticut | US$48,930 | US$37,670 to US$78,720 |
| Delaware | US$49,330 | US$47,950 to US$78,580 |
| Florida | US$46,070 | US$28,690 to US$58,210 |
| Georgia | US$46,910 | US$26,210 to US$62,230 |
| Hawaii | US$56,990 | US$46,310 to US$77,160 |
| Idaho | US$43,840 | US$41,080 to US$56,560 |
| Illinois | US$64,450 | US$50,300 to US$90,840 |
| Indiana | US$46,050 | US$37,900 to US$58,910 |
| Iowa | US$42,890 | US$20,440 to US$68,530 |
| Kansas | US$48,400 | US$39,050 to US$62,190 |
| Kentucky | US$44,410 | US$26,890 to US$57,440 |
| Louisiana | US$47,350 | US$33,400 to US$62,360 |
| Maine | US$46,430 | US$40,070 to US$84,350 |
| Maryland | US$47,210 | US$39,310 to US$64,110 |
| Massachusetts | US$62,550 | US$49,020 to US$80,910 |
| Michigan | US$57,550 | US$45,500 to US$66,880 |
| Minnesota | US$77,460 | US$63,580 to US$77,460 |
| Mississippi | US$41,560 | US$35,650 to US$60,520 |
| Missouri | US$61,140 | US$37,560 to US$70,950 |
| Montana | US$59,580 | US$46,950 to US$69,760 |
| Nebraska | US$39,380 | US$37,130 to US$60,890 |
| Nevada | US$51,210 | US$39,850 to US$62,940 |
| New Hampshire | US$59,660 | US$47,320 to US$63,000 |
| New Jersey | US$71,940 | US$52,830 to US$80,730 |
| New Mexico | US$47,330 | US$45,070 to US$62,740 |
| New York | US$62,400 | US$41,600 to US$83,700 |
| North Carolina | US$48,480 | US$36,130 to US$62,600 |
| North Dakota | US$44,820 | US$32,010 to US$59,760 |
| Ohio | US$49,650 | US$44,990 to US$57,450 |
| Oklahoma | US$46,950 | US$38,110 to US$56,170 |
| Oregon | US$75,440 | US$51,220 to US$94,470 |
| Pennsylvania | US$58,200 | US$46,800 to US$75,750 |
| Rhode Island | US$61,040 | US$59,880 to US$71,170 |
| South Carolina | US$43,660 | US$29,960 to US$60,610 |
| South Dakota | US$50,430 | US$40,040 to US$70,650 |
| Tennessee | US$47,350 | US$38,060 to US$61,480 |
| Texas | US$39,880 | US$35,610 to US$49,220 |
| Utah | US$56,890 | US$52,070 to US$71,260 |
| Vermont | US$62,170 | US$48,340 to US$72,950 |
| Virginia | US$48,550 | US$38,930 to US$59,350 |
| Washington | US$63,850 | US$44,530 to US$93,620 |
| West Virginia | US$49,140 | US$36,350 to US$57,260 |
| Wisconsin | US$57,930 | US$45,880 to US$77,250 |
| Wyoming | US$46,210 | US$28,270 to US$74,050 |
Alaska and the District of Columbia show "No data available" on O*NET for this job, so they are not in the table.
Reading the US spread
The medians run from US$39,380 in Nebraska to US$77,460 in Minnesota. Minnesota is a warning sign more than a finding: its median and its high figure are the same number, US$77,460. Leaving Minnesota out, the top medians are Oregon at US$75,440, New Jersey at US$71,940, Illinois at US$64,450 and Washington at US$63,850. After Nebraska, the lowest are Texas at US$39,880, Alabama at US$41,500, Mississippi at US$41,560 and Iowa at US$42,890.
The gap inside a single state is often bigger than the gap between states. Iowa runs from US$20,440 to US$68,530. California runs from US$35,750 to US$92,270. A state median says little about what a climber with ten years on the ropes and a crew lead role might earn, or about what a first-season groundie earns.
Some states have a very narrow low-to-high range, such as Texas at US$35,610 to US$49,220. The table does not say why.
Canada
Job Bank is the federal government's labour market site. Its wage report for arborists shows hourly wages, in Canadian dollars, for each province. The page said the wages were updated on November 19, 2025, and showed a date modified of August 7, 2026. For the whole of Canada it gives a median of CA$30.00 an hour, from CA$21.00 to CA$40.87.
Low and high are the lower and upper ends of the wage range on the report. The median is the middle wage.
| Province | Median an hour | Low to high |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | CA$31.05 | CA$22.00 to CA$42.82 |
| Quebec | CA$27.00 | CA$20.00 to CA$38.00 |
| British Columbia | CA$25.00 | CA$20.00 to CA$33.00 |
| Alberta | CA$23.00 | CA$18.00 to CA$32.00 |
| Manitoba | CA$21.50 | CA$18.00 to CA$27.00 |
| Saskatchewan | CA$24.28 | CA$15.70 to CA$36.19 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | CA$26.28 | CA$20.97 to CA$40.86 |
| Prince Edward Island | CA$26.11 | CA$20.02 to CA$36.13 |
| Nova Scotia | CA$24.89 | CA$18.09 to CA$37.56 |
| New Brunswick | CA$24.00 | CA$17.69 to CA$34.78 |
The report shows N/A for the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, so no territory figure is given here.
The report also lists city regions under each province. Toronto Region shows a median of CA$30.00 an hour, from CA$22.00 to CA$36.00. Montreal Region shows a median of CA$28.42. Calgary Region and Edmonton Region both show CA$23.00, and Winnipeg Region shows CA$21.50.
Reading the Canadian spread
Ontario has the highest median at CA$31.05 an hour, and Manitoba the lowest at CA$21.50. Alberta, at CA$23.00, is second lowest. The low end of the range also moves a lot: Saskatchewan shows CA$15.70 and Ontario shows CA$22.00.
A wide range inside a province is normal for this code. It includes people at entry level and people with years of experience. It also includes some horticulture work that is not tree climbing at all.
Putting the two side by side
The US table is a yearly figure and the Canadian table is hourly, in two currencies, so the two cannot be compared line by line. Turning an hourly wage into a yearly one depends on the hours worked and on overtime, which differ by employer and by season. Tax, benefits and cost of living also differ.
Where to look next
- State pages, and metro areas for some states, are on the O*NET wage page.
- City regions are listed in the Job Bank wage report.
- Job Bank points to the Open Government Portal as the place to download its wage data in one file, including earlier years.
- The guide on finding climbing work covers what employers ask for.
- The guide on working abroad covers a move between countries.
The layout of a listing is on the sample jobs board. Its jobs are samples, not real offers.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine, wages for tree trimmers and pruners (37-3013.00), United States, BLS 2025 wage data, site updated August 25, 2026, read October 5, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, tree trimmers and pruners wages, Alaska page (no data available), read October 5, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, tree trimmers and pruners wages, District of Columbia page (no data available), read October 5, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, tree trimmers and pruners wages, Oregon page, BLS 2025 wage data, read October 5, 2026
- O*NET OnLine, tree trimmers and pruners wages, Minnesota page, BLS 2025 wage data, read October 5, 2026
- Job Bank (Government of Canada), wage report for Arborist, NOC 22114, wages updated November 19, 2025, read October 5, 2026