Statewide pay Government data
Landscapers in Illinois earn a statewide median of $43,790 a year, 17% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #17 of 50 states and DC. About 34,780 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Illinois
See all states on the landscaper overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes landscaper pay for 8 Illinois metros: Bloomington, Champaign, Chicago, Decatur, Kankakee, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChicagoILLINOIS · IL | $45,280 | $43,709 | 25,160 |
| ChampaignILLINOIS · IL | $38,270 | $41,282 | 660 |
| SpringfieldILLINOIS · IL | $38,090 | $41,070 | 680 |
| BloomingtonILLINOIS · IL | $37,960 | $40,583 | 710 |
| RockfordILLINOIS · IL | $37,770 | $40,986 | 920 |
| DecaturILLINOIS · IL | $37,540 | $42,455 | 210 |
| PeoriaILLINOIS · IL | $37,330 | $40,918 | 1,050 |
| KankakeeILLINOIS · IL | $37,100 | $38,488 | 220 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Illinois's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 149,500 openings a year. Typical training: short-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, landscapers have 165 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often landscapers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, landscaping companies in Illinois filed 41 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 9 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was falls, slips and trips (49% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only landscapers. OSHA also opened 20 fatality investigations at landscaping companies in Illinois over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Illinois Government data
20 schools in Illinois offer horticulture and landscaping programs below the bachelor's level. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Land College Mattoon, IL · Public | Certificate | $13,373 | 419 | — |
| Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL · Public | Certificate | $14,502 | 27 | — |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley College Chicago, IL · Public | Certificate | $13,805 | 22 | $28,394 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College Chicago, IL · Public | Certificate | $14,296 | 17 | — |
| College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL · Public | Certificate | $13,693 | 15 | — |
| McHenry County College Crystal Lake, IL · Public | Certificate | $17,339 | 14 | — |
| College of Lake County Grayslake, IL · Public | Certificate | $13,130 | 13 | — |
| Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL · Public | Associate degree | $14,502 | 12 | — |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Illinois Official source
The main state licensing office in Illinois is the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Most trades (including general contractors and electricians) are licensed locally; plumbers are licensed by the state health department. It can point you to the right license for landscapers.
Official Illinois licensing site ↗
Requirements for landscapers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 13.1% of wage and salary workers in Illinois were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#12 of 51 states and D.C.), and 14.0% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only landscapers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Illinois
All trades in Illinois.