What does a grounds person do?
A grounds person is responsible for the overall upkeep of an institution's grounds, public parks, and other similar areas. They are usually employed in schools, especially in schools with provisions for outdoor sports or lawn sports such as soccer, golf, tennis, and football, among others. A grounds person is in charge of the maintenance of the grass on the lawn, of the repairs and maintenance of fixtures such as lights, benches, and fountains, and even of the cleanliness of the area. As such, it is expected that a grounds person is familiar with taking care of plants, conducting routine maintenance work, and repairing fixtures.
Grounds person responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real grounds person resumes:
- Used hand saws and hand pruners as well as motorized saws to manage tree cuttings on the ground.
- Operate and maintain non CDL truck, bobcat, wood chipper, and grind saw.
- Perform maintenance and preventative maintenance including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, flooring, painting and suspend ceilings.
- Operate power equipment such as mowers, snow blowers, chain-saws, electric clippers, sod cutters, and pruning saws.
- Certify forklift for NC and SC, CPR and first aid
- Mow lawn, plant flowers and remove litter and snow.
- Operate forklift, fill orders, and run and organize the yard
- Complete defensive driving class as well as first aid and CPR certification.
- Clear land by safely operating chain saws, skid steers, chippers and stump grinders.
- Provide assistance to company owner installing HVAC, heating units, refrigerators, and/or other household/building appliances.
- Operate boom trucks, loaders, chippers, stump grinders, gas saws and other equipment and tools.
- Maintain campus appearance and cleanliness.
- Maintain serviceability and cleanliness of all work relate equipment.
- Spray herbicide, repair sprinklers and irrigation installation.
- Use loppers to cut down cedar trees around property, clean ranch equipment at the end of every week.
Grounds person skills and personality traits
We calculated that 30% of Grounds People are proficient in Ladders, PPE, and CDL. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Color vision, and Mechanical skills.
We break down the percentage of Grounds People that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Ladders, 30%
Used ladders brought my own tools every day hung new fixtures and drove all over the city to each job every day
- PPE, 17%
Use proper PPE: Hard hat, safety glasses, ear protection, high visible vest, level 2 or 3.
- CDL, 9%
Possess CDL class B operator license.
- GRASS, 5%
Operated tractors, various styles of riding lawnmowers, and grass, tree and shrub trimming equipment.
- Work Ethic, 5%
Gained Dedication and work ethic.
- CPR, 4%
Received Certified CPR License, Automated External Defibrillator AED Certification, DOT Certification.
Common skills that a grounds person uses to do their job include "ladders," "ppe," and "cdl." You can find details on the most important grounds person responsibilities below.
Physical stamina. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a grounds person to have is physical stamina. Their role and responsibilities require that "grounds maintenance workers must be able to do strenuous labor for long periods of time, occasionally in extreme heat or cold." Grounds people often use physical stamina in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "excelled in a extraordinarily physically demanding groundsman position at the largest tree care company in north carolina. "
The three companies that hire the most grounds persons are:
- Lewis Tree Service182 grounds people jobs
- The Townsend161 grounds people jobs
- Nelson Tree Service78 grounds people jobs
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Compare different grounds people
Grounds person vs. Lawn care specialist
A lawn specialist supervises the lawn gardeners keeping the garden or surroundings in a particular place like buildings, nursing homes, hospitals, government offices, and private institutions clean and green. Often you can see them trimming tall grass and bushes, cuts stems of a flower, and maintains the grass bed. This position specializes in applying different inputs such as fertilizers, leading, and others. Most of the time, they follow suggestions or comments made by their client, leading to the improvement of the yard or garden.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, grounds person responsibilities require skills like "ladders," "dexterity," "ppe," and "cdl." Meanwhile a typical lawn care specialist has skills in areas such as "customer locations," "weed control," "pest control," and "production reports." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Lawn care specialists earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $34,722. On the other hand, grounds people are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,697.On average, lawn care specialists reach similar levels of education than grounds people. Lawn care specialists are 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Grounds person vs. Lawn specialist
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, grounds person responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "dexterity," "ppe," "cdl," and "work ethic." Meanwhile, a lawn specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "production reports," "cleanliness," "telemarketing," and "customer communications." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Lawn specialists earn similar levels of education than grounds people in general. They're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Grounds person vs. Lawn maintenance worker
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a grounds person is likely to be skilled in "ppe," "cdl," "work ethic," and "cpr," while a typical lawn maintenance worker is skilled in "manual dexterity," "edge lawns," "backpack," and "hedge trimmers."
Lawn maintenance workers earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $30,057. Grounds people earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,697.When it comes to education, lawn maintenance workers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to grounds people. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Grounds person vs. Lawn care technician
Even though a few skill sets overlap between grounds people and lawn care technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a grounds person might have more use for skills like "ladders," "dexterity," "ppe," and "cdl." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lawn care technicians require skills like "basic math," "weed control," "pest control," and "maintenance tasks. "
Lawn care technicians enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $34,566. For comparison, grounds people earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.In general, lawn care technicians hold similar degree levels compared to grounds people. Lawn care technicians are 0.6% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of grounds person
Updated January 8, 2025
