Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,904
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$7,046
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,757
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$46,950
Kept after tax
$39,904
Worth in national money
$36,757
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for landscaping and groundskeeping workers. The middle earner takes $46,950, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 19.92% above the national middle.
- Against 493 occupations Washington publishes, landscaping and groundskeeping workers lands at 427. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,950 the take-home is $39,904. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,757 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $49,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers, at $46,950 — about 19.92% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Washington, this work ranks 427 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $39,904 for landscaping and groundskeeping workers, from $46,950. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,757. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $49,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,030 |
| This salary | $46,950 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Washington | $39,904 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,904 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,307 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $46,950 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,209 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $46,950. The published range is $37,510 up to $61,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $39,904 take-home in Washington comes from $46,950. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 427 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,757 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 427.
- Reported values are medians; for landscaping and groundskeeping workers in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,510 to $61,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $39,904, from $46,950, assumes a single Washington filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 427 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,757, worked from $46,950, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Washington address, on work sitting at 427 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,510 and the top tenth $61,030, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $36,757 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $39,904 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Washington is $49,130. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,510 to $61,030) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,757 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,904 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.