---
title: "Tree Trimmer and Pruner"
description: "Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cut away dead or excess branches from trees or shrubs to maintain right-of-way for roads, sidewalks…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/tree-trimmer-and-pruner"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Tree Trimmer and Pruner

**Category:** Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance · **SOC code:** 37-3013 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 37-3013.00

Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cut away dead or excess branches from trees or shrubs to maintain right-of-way for roads, sidewalks, or utilities, or to improve appearance, health, and value of tree. Prune or treat trees or shrubs using handsaws, hand pruners, clippers, and power pruners. Works off the ground in the tree canopy and may use truck-mounted lifts.

Also advertised as: Arborist; Climber; Grounds Worker; Groundsman; Laborer; Plant Health Care Technician; Tree Climber; Tree Trimmer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,960 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.50/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,940 to $80,310, with the middle half between $44,840 and $63,900
- **Total US employment:** 55,160
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 7,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 71/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 55,160 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $37,940 |
| 25th | $44,840 |
| 50th (median) | $50,960 |
| 75th | $63,900 |
| 90th | $80,310 |
| Mean (average) | $55,970 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MN | $77,460 | $78,543 | Not published by BLS |
| OR | $75,440 | $72,987 | 1,610 |
| NJ | $71,940 | $66,118 | Not published by BLS |
| IL | $64,450 | $64,477 | 700 |
| WA | $63,850 | $59,666 | 700 |
| CA | $62,550 | $56,494 | 9,610 |
| MA | $62,550 | $59,145 | 2,090 |
| NY | $62,400 | $57,820 | 3,750 |
| VT | $62,170 | $63,466 | 430 |
| MO | $61,140 | $67,322 | 970 |
| RI | $61,040 | $59,679 | 110 |
| NH | $59,660 | $57,275 | 330 |
| MT | $59,580 | $62,951 | 230 |
| PA | $58,200 | $59,648 | 3,160 |
| WI | $57,930 | $61,565 | 1,190 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/tree-trimmer-and-pruner/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/tree-trimmer-and-pruner.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 70,600 in the 2025–2035 base year to 73,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 3,000 jobs, or +4.2%. About as fast as average: 4.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 7,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 56.8% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 37.1% |
| Some College Courses | 3.8% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 2.2% |

## What the work involves

- Operate boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.
- Clean, sharpen, and lubricate tools and equipment.
- Operate shredding and chipping equipment, and feed limbs and brush into the machines.
- Trim, top, and reshape trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.
- Hoist tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lower branches with ropes or block and tackle.
- Collect debris and refuse from tree trimming and removal operations into piles, using shovels, rakes, or other tools.
- Trim jagged stumps, using saws or pruning shears.
- Cut away dead and excess branches from trees, or clear branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operation and Control — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Selection — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Control Precision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reaction Time — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.09 |
| I — Investigative | 2.13 |
| S — Social | 1.79 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.22 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 84.0 |
| ISTP | 75.1 |
| ISFJ | 71.8 |
| ESTJ | 69.5 |
| INTJ | 62.1 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Faller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/faller) — median $52,100
- [Landscaping and Groundskeeping Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/landscaping-and-groundskeeping-worker) — median $39,150
- [Pesticide Handler, Sprayer, and Applicator, Vegetation](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pesticide-handler-sprayer-and-applicator-vegetation) — median $46,340
- [Forest and Conservation Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forest-and-conservation-worker) — median $43,680
- [Farmworker and Laborer, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmworker-and-laborer-crop-nursery-and-greenhouse) — median $35,660
- [Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator) — median $59,850
- [Agricultural Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-equipment-operator) — median $41,730
- [Construction Laborer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer) — median $47,120
- [Logging Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/logging-equipment-operator) — median $49,740
- [Highway Maintenance Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/highway-maintenance-worker) — median $50,260

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/tree-trimmer-and-pruner