Tree Trimmers and Pruners Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $44K, rent takes 43% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,272/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new tree trimmers and pruners typically earn — is $42K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,533/month. At HUD’s $1,272/month FMR, rent would take 50% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 14% below the national median — $44K here vs. $51K nationally. Cost of living is 7% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Lexington-Fayette pays $44K median vs. the U.S. average of $51K — that’s -14%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 92.9), the purchasing-power equivalent is $47K — below the national median.

The median is $43,870 a year, that works out to about $21 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $42,210, and experienced tree trimmers and pruners can clear $57,880. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,961/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,272/month, which eats 43% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Lexington-Fayette has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median tree trimmers and pruners salary is worth about $47,223 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.