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The differences between grounds keepers 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 grounds keeper, becoming a grounds maintenance worker takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a grounds keeper has an average salary of $30,535, which is higher than the $28,562 average annual salary of a grounds maintenance worker.
The top three skills for a grounds keeper include GRASS, PET and lawn care. The most important skills for a grounds maintenance worker are GRASS, grounds maintenance, and mowing.
| Grounds Keeper | Grounds Maintenance Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $30,535 | $28,562 |
| Hourly rate | $14.68 | $13.73 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 11,534 | 115,674 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 46% |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A groundskeeper's job responsibility is to maintain and modify outdoor areas such as college campuses, parks, gardens, etc. Your major duty is to carry out routine maintenance, planting, and gardening of a business or park's landscape. You may have to perform duties like mowing and maintaining lawns, planting new greenery, and trimming shrubs. Other duties you may likely carry out are watering, fertilizing, mulching, and applying pesticides. In all, the goal is to maintain the grounds of the place where you work.
A grounds maintenance worker makes sure that the grounds of businesses, urban infrastructure, parks, and houses are in order and attractive. These workers provide a functional and pleasant outdoor environment to spaces. They mow, fertilize, and edge lawns. Their tasks may include removing damaged, unwanted, or dead trees in these areas. They also maintain the indoor plantings and gardens in public and commercial facilities like hotels, botanical gardens, and malls.
Grounds keepers and grounds maintenance workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Grounds Keeper | Grounds Maintenance Worker | |
| Average salary | $30,535 | $28,562 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $37,000 | Between $23,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Columbia University in the City of New York | Lakeland Electric |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between a grounds keeper and a grounds maintenance worker in terms of educational background:
| Grounds Keeper | Grounds Maintenance Worker | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between grounds keepers' and grounds maintenance workers' demographics:
| Grounds Keeper | Grounds Maintenance Worker | |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 21.6% Asian, 2.2% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% | 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% |