Garden worker vs grounds maintenance worker

The differences between garden workers and grounds maintenance workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a garden worker, becoming a grounds maintenance worker takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a grounds maintenance worker has an average salary of $28,562, which is higher than the $27,715 average annual salary of a garden worker.

The top three skills for a garden worker include mowing, water plants and customer service. The most important skills for a grounds maintenance worker are GRASS, grounds maintenance, and mowing.

Garden worker vs grounds maintenance worker overview

	Garden Worker	Grounds Maintenance Worker
Yearly salary	$27,715	$28,562
Hourly rate	$13.32	$13.73
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	20,918	115,674
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 46%
Average age	41	47
Years of experience	2	4

Garden worker vs grounds maintenance worker salary

Garden workers and grounds maintenance workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Garden Worker	Grounds Maintenance Worker
Average salary	$27,715	$28,562
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $35,000	Between $23,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	New York Botanical Garden	Lakeland Electric
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between garden worker and grounds maintenance worker education

There are a few differences between a garden worker and a grounds maintenance worker in terms of educational background:

	Garden Worker	Grounds Maintenance Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Garden worker vs grounds maintenance worker demographics

Here are the differences between garden workers' and grounds maintenance workers' demographics:

	Garden Worker	Grounds Maintenance Worker
Average age	41	47
Gender ratio	Male, 56.6% Female, 43.4%	Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 1.5% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 4.7% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	3%	2%

Differences between garden worker and grounds maintenance worker duties and responsibilities

Garden worker example responsibilities.

Participate in ordering of all nursery stock and managing inventory.
Utilize gardening tools and machinery such rototiller, hoes, rakes, shovels, chainsaw, and loppers
Help trim, prune, weed, edge, and add mulch to the garden.
Maintain cemetery's and have to dig graves.
Maintain lawn: mowing, trimming, and weeding.
Provide care and upkeep of the campus lawn such as planting flowers and mowing

Grounds maintenance worker example responsibilities.

Manage hardscape installation team and project
Operate hand or power tools and equipment such as: lawn mowers, shovels, snow blowers, rakes and trimmers.
Used lawn equipment to maintain grass, trees, flower beds, and paper pickup around the outside of where house.
Clean grounds using rakes, brooms, and hoses.
Mow, weed whack, rake, mulch, and prune the grounds as needed.
Remove weeds, debris and trash, edge, water, mow, prune and trim park landscapes.

Garden worker vs grounds maintenance worker skills

Common garden worker skills

Mowing, 34%
Water Plants, 17%
Customer Service, 15%
Mowers, 8%
Nursery, 6%
Pruners, 5%

Common grounds maintenance worker skills

GRASS, 16%
Grounds Maintenance, 11%
Mowing, 9%
Hand Tools, 7%
Mowers, 4%
Blowers, 4%

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Building and Grounds Maintenance Industry
Garden Worker
Garden Worker vs Grounds Maintenance Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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