The typical arborist salary in the US is $50,960 a year, or $24.50 an hour. That is the median for Tree Trimmers and Pruners in the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 survey, the newest government data available. Half of all tree workers earn between $44,840 and $63,900, and the top 10% clear $80,310.

Those national numbers hide a wide spread. A ground crew member in a low-cost state and a utility arborist in Oregon can be $30,000 or more apart doing work that looks similar from the street. Below you'll find pay by role, by state and by employer type, and what changes once you stop drawing a paycheck and start running the crew.

Average Arborist Salary in 2026

BLS counts 55,160 people employed as Tree Trimmers and Pruners (SOC 37-3013), with an average (mean) wage of $55,970 a year. The mean sits above the median because a smaller group of high earners in utility, government and consulting work pulls it up.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

Salary sites tend to report higher figures than the BLS median. As of October 2026, ZipRecruiter puts the average arborist salary near $60,675 a year and Indeed around $27.10 an hour. The gap is about method, not accuracy. Job sites draw on job postings and user reports, which likely lean toward open climbing and certified roles, while BLS surveys employers about everyone already on payroll, including the ground crew.

For budgeting a hire or negotiating a raise, the BLS middle band of roughly $45,000 to $64,000 is the safer reference. Job-site figures are closer to what you'll see in a help-wanted ad.

"Arborist" covers several jobs with very different pay. BLS doesn't publish wages by role, so the ranges below are our estimates, mapped onto the BLS percentile spread for tree trimmers.

Ground Crew and Laborer

Almost everyone starts on the ground: feeding the chipper, hauling brush, running ropes for the climber. Pay tracks the bottom of the BLS range, roughly the 10th to 25th percentile: $38,000 to $45,000 a year ($18 to $22 an hour). The fastest way up is learning to climb or getting licensed to drive and operate the bigger equipment.

Climbing Arborist

We'd expect a climbing arborist salary to land between the BLS median and the 75th percentile, around $50,000 to $64,000, with experienced removal climbers going higher. Crane removals and technical rigging are where the premium shows up, and in storm season overtime can move annual pay well past the base rate.

Crew Leader and Foreman

Crew leaders typically sit in the upper part of the BLS range, between the 75th and 90th percentiles. The extra pay is for judgment: reading the site for hazards, sequencing a removal, keeping a three or four person crew productive, and answering to the customer when something goes sideways.

ISA Certified Arborist

An ISA certified arborist salary runs above uncertified peers because the credential opens work the ground crew can't sell: plant health care diagnostics, written assessments and municipal contracts. Certified arborists with a few years of field time tend to earn above the $50,960 median, especially when they sell diagnostic or consulting work. Board Certified Master Arborists, the top level of ISA certification, earn more again, usually because they are doing consulting or management work rather than daily climbing. Industry groups such as the TCIA also offer accreditation and training that many employers look for.

Utility Arborist

Line clearance work around power lines pays a premium for the electrical hazard training it requires. BLS data shows tree trimmers employed directly by electric power companies average $64,950 a year, well above the overall mean.

Consulting Arborist

Consulting arborist salary figures vary more than any other role, because the title covers everything from occasional tree appraisals to full-time expert witness work. Consultants who regularly handle appraisals, construction tree protection plans and litigation support bill closer to a professional service than a tree crew, and established practices can earn well above the BLS 90th percentile of $80,310.

Arborist Salary by State

Location moves pay almost as much as role. The highest-paying states for tree work are in the Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest and the Northeast, where cost of living is higher and municipal and utility work makes up more of the market.

Metro areas push the numbers higher still. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA averages $76,580, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont $74,180 and Minneapolis-St. Paul $73,710. Two nonmetro areas, Western Washington ($79,270) and coastal Oregon ($78,120), top the list, which tells you how much utility and forestry work there is outside the cities.

The states with the most tree trimming jobs are a different list. California employs 9,610 tree trimmers, Texas 4,460, New York 3,750, Pennsylvania 3,160 and Florida 2,770. If you are looking for the most openings, those markets have them. If you are looking for the highest arborist salary, the top-paying states above are where to look.

Employer type is the factor people forget. Nine out of ten tree trimmers (49,520 of 55,160) work for private companies BLS groups as "services to buildings and dwellings," which is where tree service and landscaping firms sit. That's the bulk of the market and it pays close to the national average.

The smaller employers pay more. Local governments average $66,340, electric utilities $64,950 and state governments $64,610. Federal jobs average $74,130, and facilities support contractors top the list at $81,450. These roles are fewer and harder to get, but for an arborist planning a career, a municipal or utility position is often the fastest route above $65,000 without starting a business.

What Drives Arborist Pay Up (and Down)

A few factors explain most of the gap between a $38,000 salary and an $80,000 one.

• Certification: ISA Certified Arborist status and the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) qualify you for assessment and consulting work that clients pay more for.
• Specialty: utility line clearance, crane work and plant health care pay more than general pruning.
• Experience with technical removals: five or more years of rigging and removal work separates senior climbers from everyone else.
• Employer type: government and utility roles pay above the private tree service average.
• Region: the Pacific Northwest, Minnesota, New Jersey and coastal California pay the most.

What holds pay down is just as predictable. Staying on the ground without learning to climb, working in a small rural market, and long winter slowdowns in cold states all cap earnings. Seasonal gaps matter more than most people expect: an arborist with a $26 base rate who loses six weeks every winter earns noticeably less than the hourly number suggests.

Everything above is an employee's paycheck. Owners get paid from what the business keeps after labor, equipment, insurance and overhead, so owner income depends far more on pricing and crew utilization than on any wage table.

That's also why the range is so wide. A solo operator with a pickup and a chipper and a company running three full crews are both "tree service owners," but their income has little in common. We break this down step by step, from revenue per crew to profit margin to the owner's take-home, in how much tree service companies make. If you are weighing the jump from employee to owner, start with how to start a tree service business.

The owners who earn the most usually share a few habits: they price from real job cost instead of matching competitors, keep crews booked instead of idle between jobs, and sell recurring plant health care and maintenance contracts instead of only one-off removals. ArboStar helps tree care business owners keep crew schedules full, track job costs in real time and see which jobs actually make money before the next one gets booked.

Most field arborists are paid hourly, and that remains the standard for ground crew and climbers. Crew leaders and plant health care technicians are more likely to be salaried, reflecting the supervisory and diagnostic parts of the job. Production pay, where a crew earns by output instead of hours, shows up mostly on large removal jobs.

For an owner, choosing a pay structure is really a retention and cost-control decision. Hourly pay is simple to track but can reward slow work if your job costing is loose. Salary keeps payroll predictable but only works once a crew leader's role is genuinely supervisory. Getting the mix right often matters more to the bottom line than a dollar or two on the hourly rate.

If you are an arborist, the data points to three levers: get certified, add a specialty like utility or plant health care work, and consider municipal or utility employers if you want to pass $65,000 without owning a business. If you are an owner setting pay, benchmark against the BLS median of $50,960 and your state's figure, not a single job-site average. Either way, arborist salary in 2026 rewards specialization far more than years on the job alone.

Running the crew yourself? See how ArboStar helps tree care businesses turn crew time into profit with a personalized demo.

Do arborists make good money?

Arborists earn a solid trade wage. The BLS median is $50,960 a year, and the top 10% earn more than $80,310. Pay improves quickly with certification, climbing skill and specialties like utility line clearance, and owners of well-run tree service companies earn considerably more than employees.

What type of arborist makes the most money?

Consulting arborists and business owners have the highest earning potential. Among employees, utility arborists and those working for federal, state or local government earn the most, with BLS average wages between $64,610 (state government) and $74,130 (federal government) depending on the employer type.

How much does a certified arborist make?

An ISA Certified Arborist with field experience usually earns above the $50,960 median for all tree trimmers. BLS doesn't track pay by certification. Certification adds the most value when it is paired with plant health care, risk assessment or consulting work that clients pay a premium for.

What state pays arborists the most?

Oregon pays tree trimmers the most, with an average of $73,630 a year in BLS May 2025 data. Minnesota ($72,860), New Jersey ($69,760), Washington ($66,980) and Illinois ($66,850) round out the top five.

How much do arborists make an hour?

The median arborist hourly wage is $24.50. Entry-level tree workers start near $18 an hour, the middle half earns $21.56 to $30.72, and the top 10% make more than $38.61 an hour.