Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance · Holland code RC

Tree Trimmers and Pruners

Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cut away dead or excess branches from trees or shrubs to maintain right-of-way for roads, sidewalks, or utilities, or to improve appearance, health, and value of tree. Prune or treat trees or shrubs using handsaws, hand pruners, clippers, and power pruners. Works off the ground in the tree canopy and may use truck-mounted lifts.

Also called: Arborist, Groundsman, Tree Climber, Tree Trimmer, Climber, Grounds Worker, Laborer, Plant Health Care Technician.

O*NET 37-3013.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $50,960; Middle half earn $44,840 to $63,900. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Less than a High School Diploma; 57% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Operate shredding and chipping equipment, and feed limbs and brush into the machines.
Operate boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.
Cut away dead and excess branches from trees, or clear branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.
Clean, sharpen, and lubricate tools and equipment.
Hoist tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lower branches with ropes or block and tackle.
Climb trees, using climbing hooks and belts, or climb ladders to gain access to work areas.
Supervise others engaged in tree trimming work and train lower-level employees.
Trim, top, and reshape trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.3 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Active Listening2.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.6 / 5
Active Learning2.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service3.6 / 5
Mechanical3.3 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.9 / 5
Production and Processing2.8 / 5
Transportation2.7 / 5
Education and Training2.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative19
Artistic0
Social13
Enterprising4
Conventional35

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

forester · DE Forstwirt/Forstwirtin · FR forestier
forestry adviser · DE Forstwirtschaftlicher Berater/forstwirtschaftliche Beraterin · FR conseiller en sylviculture/conseillère en sylviculture
forestry technician · DE Forstaufseher/Forstaufseherin · FR technicien forestier/technicienne forestière
arboriculturist · DE Arborist/Arboristin · FR arboriculteur/arboricultrice
tree surgeon · DE Baumchirurg/Baumchirurgin · FR élagueur/élagueuse
forest ranger · DE Förster/Försterin · FR garde forestier/ garde forestière

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Groundsmen and greenkeepers (5114)30,700 employed
Pest controllers (6121)6,400 employed
Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture (1211)40,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Germany	€31,000
Sweden	€30,144
Italy	€27,723
Netherlands	€26,642
Ireland	€25,686
France	€22,942
Spain	€20,465
Portugal	€9,509
Poland	€8,061

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.73. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (37-3013).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test