How To Become A Grounds Keeper: What It Is and Career Path

What is a grounds keeper and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

You may have never thought about who takes care of the lawn or the landscaping on the grounds of campuses or building complexes. But, if you want to get to the ground truth of the matter, it's actually the groundskeeper. The groundskeeper is responsible for maintaining the grounds for various types of facilities and organizations, including hotels, office buildings, college campuses, and golf courses.

Groundskeepers do all sorts of landscaping tasks to keep an area looking nice. Some of their duties include mowing lawns, trimming hedges, planting trees and flowers, etc. Groundskeepers need to have a strong working knowledge of gardening and yard equipment. Groundskeepers will almost certainly use a range of equipment including mowers, trimmers, tractors, and hedge clippers. They also ensure that the landscaping is properly watered and fertilized.

Since groundskeeping is typically considered an entry-level position, typically all you'll need to get this job is to be a hard worker who is skilled at using lawn equipment.

ScoreGrounds KeeperUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,535

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.38%

Asian 2.21%

Black or African American 10.29%

Hispanic or Latino 21.63%

Unknown 3.90%

White 60.58%

Gender

female 10.94%

male 89.06%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a grounds keeper

Explore grounds keeper education requirements

Most common grounds keeper degrees

High School Diploma

48.0 %

Bachelor's

17.8 %

Associate

16.2 %

Start to develop specific grounds keeper skills

Skills	Percentages
GRASS	30.10%
PET	18.60%
Lawn Care	7.11%
Snow Blowers	4.68%
Mowing	4.53%

Research grounds keeper duties and responsibilities

Manage hardscape installation team and project
Remove debris from stairs and walks, rakes leaves, and mows lawns.
Remove leaves and other debris from graves, using leaf blowers, rakes, and weed eaters.
Perform flower and foliage care and planting, raking or blowing leaves, mowing grass, mulching and removing weeds.

Prepare your grounds keeper resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your grounds keeper resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a grounds keeper resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable grounds keeper resume templates

Build a professional grounds keeper resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your grounds keeper resume.