Commercial landscaping recruiters serving St. Louis.
Corporate, hospital, and university campus work anchors demand here, with WashU, SLU, and the medical-district build-outs keeping landscape and irrigation crews steady.
A medical district, and a downtown stadium district.
St. Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below. What the hub does name: corporate, hospital, and university campus work anchoring demand, plus CITYPARK's surrounding district and downtown reinvestment adding mixed-use hardscape and maintenance contracts.
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial landscaping contractors in St. Louis against that documented context.
A multi-billion-dollar medical renewal, and a downtown stadium district.
Two distinct scopes, both steady rather than one-time spikes.
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Ongoing medical-district build-outs requiring dedicated hospital and university-campus grounds work as the renewal continues across multiple institutions.
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Continued demand for hospitality and mixed-use hardscape and maintenance contracts as the surrounding district build-out continues.
What commercial landscaping roles pay in St. Louis.
In the St. Louis metro, BLS puts the median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers at $39,040 a year, in line with the $39,150 national median. Among the 112 metros BLS publishes for this occupation, St. Louis ranks 48th on pay. Most of the market sits between $33,680 and $55,280. Of the other field roles, landscape designer / architect pays the most locally, at a $66,080 median. National benchmarks by role are in the 2026 Commercial Landscaping Salary Guide.
| Role | St. Louis median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landscape / Grounds Crew MemberLandscaping and Groundskeeping Workers (37-3011) | $39,040 | $33,680–$55,280 | $39,150 | 0% | 9,600 |
| Grounds Crew SupervisorFirst-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers (37-1012) | $54,440 | $40,060–$82,030 | $58,430 | −7% | 830 |
| Tree Trimmer / ArboristTree Trimmers and Pruners (37-3013) | $62,950 | $44,200–$75,190 | $50,960 | +24% | 520 |
| Licensed Pesticide ApplicatorPesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation (37-3012) | $47,930 | $40,160–$58,670 | $46,340 | +3% | 150 |
| Landscape Designer / ArchitectLandscape Architects (17-1012) | $66,080 | $45,550–$99,650 | $79,870 | −17% | 70 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, St. Louis metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile. Headcount is shown for field occupations only; management, estimating and supervisory codes are counted across every industry in the metro.
What candidates expect. What credentials matter. What kills offers.
We don't tell prospective clients who their competitors are hiring - that's a discipline our clients value, and we'll honor it on a call. What we will share publicly: how St. Louis commercial landscaping hiring actually plays out in 2026.
Why the medical district drives steady, not spiking, demand
BJC HealthCare, WashU Medicine, and SSM Health are all renewing and expanding concurrently - the hub names this as anchoring steady landscape crew demand, not a single project spike.
Why CITYPARK adds a distinct mixed-use hardscape scope
The hub names CITYPARK's surrounding district specifically for hardscape and maintenance contracts - a different scope than the medical-campus grounds work driving the rest of the market.
What this means for sourcing
We source against verified hospital/university-campus and mixed-use hardscape project history, not resume claims, given the specific scope named by the hub.
Realistic timelines
Standard commercial landscaping roles: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer, consistent with the region's broader hiring timeline. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The commercial landscaping positions we fill, most often.
Across all St. Louis commercial landscaping clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months.
- Commercial landscape designer (medical/university campus)
- Mixed-use hardscape crew lead
- Landscape crew foreman
- Grounds maintenance manager
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in St. Louis, see the St. Louis metro overview. To learn more about commercial landscaping generally (across all 100+ markets we serve), see our Commercial Landscaping industry page.
How we recruit commercial landscaping in St. Louis, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in St. Louis's commercial landscaping segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For St. Louis landscaping work, we also confirm whether the role sits within medical-campus or CITYPARK district scope, or standard commercial grounds work.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing St. Louis commercial landscaping candidate network, filtered for verified medical-campus and mixed-use hardscape credentials.
- Vetted short list (week one to several weeks). Three to five candidates. We verify real design portfolios and relevant project history rather than a line on a resume - timeline depends on the project scope involved.
- Offer and close. Standard roles close in 4-6 weeks. We help with offer math against St. Louis documented general context.
St. Louis runs 17% more commercial landscaping workers per job than the country as a whole — above the national concentration. More per job means more people to reach, and more employers reaching them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How St. Louis's commercial landscaping market compares
In 2023 the St. Louis metro had 1,090 landscaping companies (counted by business location). BLS publishes that count but withholds headcount and pay here, which it does when a category is small enough that the figures could identify individual employers. That works out to 39 per 100,000 residents, close to the 37 national rate.
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, St. Louis ranks 21st for headcount, 44th for median pay and 24th for concentration for landscaping and groundskeeping workers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 9,600 | $39,040 | 1.17 | 1,090 |
| Kansas City | 6,660 | $41,450 | 0.99 | 804 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial landscaping employers in St. Louis, the local pool is deeper than most, so a well-run search can usually fill field roles from inside the metro.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, St. Louis metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How St. Louis's commercial landscaping market has changed since 2018.
The number of landscaping companies in St. Louis rose from 1,030 in 2018 to 1,090 in 2023, up 6%, behind the 13% growth nationally. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in St. Louis, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping companies: business locations | 1,030 | 1,090 | +6% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Frequently asked — commercial landscaping hiring in St. Louis.
What is driving commercial landscaping demand in St. Louis right now?
The BJC HealthCare/WashU Medicine campus renewal and SSM Health expansions, plus the CITYPARK district build-out, are the named drivers.
What is the difference between the medical-district and CITYPARK landscaping work?
The metro's own data names the medical district as driving steady hospital and university-campus grounds work, while CITYPARK's surrounding district adds mixed-use hardscape and maintenance contracts - a distinct scope.
What do landscaping and groundskeeping workers earn in St. Louis?
BLS puts the St. Louis median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers at $39,040 a year, about the same as the $39,150 national median. That ranks 48th of 112 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Pay is bunched together here, $33,680 to $55,280 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.6x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed. Within Missouri, Kansas City pays more, at $41,450.
Is it hard to hire landscaping and groundskeeping workers in St. Louis?
Not by national standards. Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up 17% more of the St. Louis workforce than they do nationally, about 9,600 people.
Which commercial landscaping roles pay the most in St. Louis?
Of the roles we recruit for, Landscape Designer / Architect pays the most in St. Louis, a $66,080 median. Landscape / Grounds Crew Member is the lowest-paid field role at $39,040. Relative to national pay, Tree Trimmer / Arborist is the strongest-paying role here (24% above). Landscape Designer / Architect trails national pay the most (17% below).
How many landscaping companies operate in St. Louis?
BLS counted 1,090 landscaping companies in St. Louis in 2023. Up from 1,030 in 2018, a 6% increase against 13% growth nationally. BLS withholds their combined headcount and pay here, which it does when a category is small enough that the figures could identify individual employers.
Which nearby metros compete with St. Louis for landscaping and groundskeeping workers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Indianapolis (230 miles, about 6,980, $38,180 median), Kansas City (238 miles, about 6,660, $41,450 median) and Memphis (240 miles, about 3,100, $36,500 median). Kansas City pays 6% more, which is where St. Louis employers tend to lose people.
We have not closed a commercial landscaping search in St. Louis yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in St. Louis than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Senior Freight DispatcherA decade of carrier relationships and margin management, placed on a freight desk in three weeks.
- Local CDL Class A DriverScreened, offered, onboarded and driving the same day - two weeks end to end.
- Sprinkler Layout TechnicianNICET Level II and eight years of fire protection design - a specialist, not a generalist.
Hiring commercial landscaping talent in St. Louis?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you timeline and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.