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

What is a grounds maintenance worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

If you're a business or operation looking to keep your grounds beautiful and well-kept, then you should consider hiring one (or ten) good Grounds Maintenance Workers. Grounds Maintenance Workers take care of the outdoor spaces of public parks, residences, and private establishments. They maintain the gardens, trim the trees, and oversee other outdoor facilities like fountains, benches, and signs.

Ground Maintenance Workers don't need to have a college education. A high school diploma or GED is enough to get you through the door. Prior experience will often give you a more significant advantage in the job market than formal education.

On average, Ground Maintenance Workers in the United States earn a yearly salary of roughly about $28,000. That's more or less $13 an hour. But suppose you want to cash in a bigger paycheck. In that case, you might want to look for employment opportunities in more lucrative cities like Santa Rosa, California, or Appleton, Wisconsin.

ScoreGrounds Maintenance WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,562

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.19%

Asian 4.66%

Black or African American 11.69%

Hispanic or Latino 18.00%

Unknown 4.28%

White 60.18%

Gender

female 8.83%

male 91.17%

Age - 49

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 - 49

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a grounds maintenance worker

Explore grounds maintenance worker education requirements

Most common grounds maintenance worker degrees

High School Diploma

46.4 %

Bachelor's

23.2 %

Associate

16.0 %

Start to develop specific grounds maintenance worker skills

Skills	Percentages
GRASS	15.75%
Grounds Maintenance	11.06%
Mowing	8.65%
Hand Tools	7.41%
Mowers	3.98%

Complete relevant grounds maintenance worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New grounds maintenance workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a grounds maintenance worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real grounds maintenance worker resumes.

Research grounds maintenance worker duties and 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.

Prepare your grounds maintenance worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your grounds maintenance worker 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 maintenance worker 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 maintenance worker resume templates

Build a professional grounds maintenance worker 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 maintenance worker resume.