Short answer: At the May 2025 median wage of $18.82, a landscaping crew member costs an employer about $20.44 an hour once payroll taxes are added, and about $24.82 with industry-average benefits. A three-person crew runs $57.48 (Mississippi) to $87.12 (Washington) per hour in taxes-only cost, before workers’ comp, equipment, overhead or profit.
$57.48–$87.12 per hour, 3-person crew, wages plus payroll taxes (estimate; see method)
8.2–11.5% statutory payroll-tax load on a median crew wage, by state (estimate; see method)
23.3% of wages: average non-statutory benefits in administrative and waste services (BLS ECEC, June 2026)
$15.21–$23.40 median crew wage, Mississippi to Massachusetts (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Wage tables tell you what a landscaper takes home. They do not tell you what that landscaper costs the company that signs the paycheck. This page does that for every state: we took the state median wage for crew members and crew leaders from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), then added the payroll taxes an employer owes on each hour (Social Security, Medicare, federal unemployment and the state’s 2026 new-employer unemployment rate on its own taxable wage base) and, separately, the average cost of benefits from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey. Every input is cited; every output is our arithmetic, labeled as an estimate.
If you are pricing work rather than budgeting payroll, these are cost floors, not prices. Our guide to bidding landscaping jobs shows how to stack equipment, overhead and margin on top of them, and the landscaper salary breakdown covers the worker side of the same numbers.
Burdened crew labor cost per hour in all 50 states and DC
Read across a row to see how a state’s wage turns into an hourly cost. “Taxes only” is the legal minimum: wage plus employer FICA, FUTA and state unemployment tax. “With benefits” adds the 23.3 percent average benefit load (paid leave, bonuses and overtime premiums, insurance, retirement). The crew columns price one crew leader and two crew members working the same hour. Workers’ comp is excluded from every column for the reason explained below.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| State | Crew member median wage | Crew leader median wage | New-employer SUTA, 2026 | Crew member cost/hr, taxes only | Crew member cost/hr, with benefits | 3-person crew/hr, taxes only | 3-person crew/hr, with benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $17.13 | $25.34 | 2.70% on $8,000 | $18.60 | $22.59 | $64.64 | $78.52 |
| Alaska | $22.93 | $32.58 | 1.00% on $54,200 | $24.94 | $30.28 | $85.30 | $103.57 |
| Arizona | $18.71 | $27.12 | 2.00% on $8,000 | $20.27 | $24.62 | $69.86 | $84.88 |
| Arkansas | $17.20 | $23.99 | 2.00% on $7,000 | $18.63 | $22.63 | $63.20 | $76.79 |
| California | $21.90 | $30.42 | 3.50% on $7,000 | $23.82 | $28.92 | $80.63 | $97.91 |
| Colorado | $22.00 | $29.25 | 1.53% on $30,600 * | $24.00 | $29.12 | $79.81 | $96.87 |
| Connecticut | $21.99 | $30.16 | 1.90% on $27,000 | $24.02 | $29.14 | $80.85 | $98.11 |
| Delaware | $17.96 | $35.74 | 1.11% on $14,500 | $19.46 | $23.64 | $77.52 | $94.21 |
| District of Columbia | $23.46 | $32.84 | 2.90% on $9,000 * | $25.44 | $30.91 | $86.43 | $105.00 |
| Florida | $17.84 | $24.66 | 2.70% on $7,000 | $19.35 | $23.50 | $65.39 | $79.44 |
| Georgia | $18.25 | $26.36 | 2.70% on $9,500 | $19.83 | $24.08 | $68.23 | $82.86 |
| Hawaii | $22.08 | $30.08 | 2.41% on $64,500 | $24.33 | $29.47 | $81.79 | $99.07 |
| Idaho | $20.00 | $27.98 | 1.00% on $58,300 * | $21.76 | $26.41 | $73.94 | $89.77 |
| Illinois | $21.05 | $25.65 | 3.45% on $14,250 | $22.99 | $27.90 | $73.93 | $89.71 |
| Indiana | $18.30 | $29.83 | 2.50% on $9,500 * | $19.87 | $24.14 | $72.04 | $87.50 |
| Iowa | $18.71 | $27.73 | 5.40% on $20,400 | $20.86 | $25.21 | $72.28 | $87.45 |
| Kansas | $18.91 | $29.46 | 1.75% on $15,100 * | $20.55 | $24.95 | $73.00 | $88.67 |
| Kentucky | $17.63 | $27.73 | 2.70% on $12,000 | $19.21 | $23.31 | $68.49 | $83.16 |
| Louisiana | $16.76 | $23.28 | 2.70% on $7,000 (est.) | $18.19 | $22.09 | $61.58 | $74.80 |
| Maine | $22.10 | $29.95 | 2.54% on $12,000 | $24.01 | $29.15 | $80.47 | $97.74 |
| Maryland | $18.93 | $26.31 | 2.60% on $8,500 * | $20.54 | $24.95 | $69.57 | $84.51 |
| Massachusetts | $23.40 | $30.65 | 2.42% on $15,000 * | $25.44 | $30.89 | $84.13 | $102.17 |
| Michigan | $18.33 | $28.29 | 2.70% on $9,000 * | $19.91 | $24.18 | $70.45 | $85.58 |
| Minnesota | $22.41 | $29.94 | 2.70% on $44,000 (est.) | $24.76 | $29.97 | $82.51 | $99.92 |
| Mississippi | $15.21 | $22.66 | 1.00% on $14,000 * | $16.49 | $20.03 | $57.48 | $69.84 |
| Missouri | $18.52 | $23.42 | 2.376% on $9,000 | $20.10 | $24.41 | $65.56 | $79.64 |
| Montana | $21.80 | $28.59 | 1.28% on $47,300 | $23.77 | $28.85 | $78.72 | $95.52 |
| Nebraska | $18.82 | $27.80 | 1.25% on $9,000 * | $20.36 | $24.74 | $70.74 | $85.97 |
| Nevada | $18.66 | $27.52 | 2.95% on $45,400 * | $20.66 | $25.01 | $71.79 | $86.89 |
| New Hampshire | $21.58 | $30.93 | 2.70% on $14,000 * | $23.49 | $28.52 | $80.55 | $97.80 |
| New Jersey | $19.88 | $32.97 | 2.80% on $44,800 | $21.98 | $26.61 | $80.27 | $97.20 |
| New Mexico | $18.06 | $28.42 | 2.70% on $34,800 (est.) | $19.96 | $24.16 | $71.12 | $86.15 |
| New York | $21.56 | $34.02 | 4.10% on $17,600 | $23.69 | $28.71 | $84.47 | $102.43 |
| North Carolina | $18.22 | $27.37 | 1.00% on $34,200 | $19.82 | $24.06 | $69.35 | $84.21 |
| North Dakota | $19.61 | $29.94 | 1.00% on $46,600 | $21.33 | $25.90 | $75.21 | $91.32 |
| Ohio | $18.38 | $26.77 | 2.85% on $9,000 | $19.97 | $24.25 | $68.95 | $83.74 |
| Oklahoma | $17.20 | $23.89 | 1.50% on $25,000 | $18.78 | $22.78 | $63.53 | $77.10 |
| Oregon | $21.65 | $33.92 | 2.40% on $56,700 | $23.85 | $28.89 | $85.06 | $103.04 |
| Pennsylvania | $18.99 | $26.66 | 3.822% on $10,000 * | $20.71 | $25.13 | $70.38 | $85.43 |
| Rhode Island | $21.51 | $28.82 | 1.00% on $30,800 * | $23.37 | $28.38 | $77.99 | $94.72 |
| South Carolina | $17.65 | $28.90 | 1.00% on $14,000 * | $19.11 | $23.22 | $69.45 | $84.40 |
| South Dakota | $17.01 | $29.17 | 1.20% on $15,000 * | $18.45 | $22.41 | $68.44 | $83.15 |
| Tennessee | $17.80 | $25.82 | 2.70% on $7,000 * | $19.31 | $23.45 | $66.55 | $80.85 |
| Texas | $17.66 | $22.90 | 2.70% on $9,000 * | $19.19 | $23.30 | $63.21 | $76.76 |
| Utah | $19.59 | $27.50 | 2.70% on $50,700 (est.) | $21.64 | $26.21 | $73.66 | $89.19 |
| Vermont | $22.23 | $32.12 | 1.00% on $15,400 * | $24.05 | $29.23 | $82.81 | $100.64 |
| Virginia | $18.46 | $28.08 | 2.50% on $8,000 * | $20.02 | $24.32 | $70.43 | $85.56 |
| Washington | $22.57 | $34.58 | 1.53% on $78,200 (est.) | $24.67 | $29.92 | $87.12 | $105.68 |
| West Virginia | $15.50 | $26.88 | 2.50% on $9,500 * | $16.86 | $20.47 | $62.83 | $76.31 |
| Wisconsin | $19.82 | $30.11 | 2.50% on $14,000 * | $21.58 | $26.20 | $75.82 | $92.06 |
| Wyoming | $18.42 | $27.04 | 2.70% on $33,800 (est.) | $20.35 | $24.64 | $70.41 | $85.28 |
The spread between the cheapest and most expensive state is $29.64 per crew hour on taxes-only cost, and almost all of it is wages. Payroll taxes add between $1.28 and $2.35 to a crew member’s hour depending on the state, a band of about a dollar. A bid template copied from another state can be off by up to $29.64 a crew hour before a dollar of overhead is added.
Ranked by full crew cost with benefits, the five most expensive states are Washington ($105.68), the District of Columbia ($105.00), Alaska ($103.57), Oregon ($103.04), New York ($102.43); the five least expensive are Mississippi ($69.84), Louisiana ($74.80), West Virginia ($76.31), Texas ($76.76), Arkansas ($76.79). Crew leader pay drives some surprises: Delaware’s crew members earn less than the national median, but its supervisors have the highest median of any state at $35.74, which lifts its crew cost to No. 18 of 51.
One crew-member hour, line by line
Here is the build for a crew member paid the national median of $18.82, using a 2.7 percent state rate on a $9,000 wage base (the 2026 new-employer terms in Texas) so the state line has a concrete value. Swap in your state’s row from the table above.
| Cost line | Rate | Applies to | Per paid hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage | $18.82 | BLS OEWS median, May 2025 | $18.82 |
| Social Security (employer) | 6.2% of wages | Up to $184,500 a year | $1.17 |
| Medicare (employer) | 1.45% of wages | All wages | $0.27 |
| FUTA | 0.6% after state credit | First $7,000 per worker ($42 a year) | $0.03 |
| State unemployment (example) | 2.7% | First $9,000 per worker ($243 a year) | $0.15 |
| Cost, taxes only | 8.6% of wage | $20.44 | |
| Paid leave | 7.7% of wages | Vacation, holidays, sick leave | $1.45 |
| Supplemental pay | 4.9% of wages | Overtime premiums, bonuses, shift pay | $0.92 |
| Insurance | 8.6% of wages | Health, life, disability | $1.62 |
| Retirement and savings | 2.1% of wages | 401(k) match, pension | $0.40 |
| Cost, with benefits | 31.9% of wage | $24.82 | |
| Workers’ comp (Washington lawn care example) | $1.1625 per hour | Employer share, class 0308, 2026 | $1.16 |
Two things stand out. First, the statutory taxes are small next to benefits: $1.62 an hour against $4.38 for an average benefit package. Second, the state unemployment line depends on hours as much as on the rate, because the tax stops once a worker’s pay passes the wage base. At 1,600 hours, a median crew member earns $30,112 a year, more than the wage base in most states, so the per-hour tax is the capped annual amount divided by hours worked.
Bids are built on crew hours, so the table prices a three-person crew: one leader at the 37-1012 median and two crew members at the 37-3011 median. Nationally that crew costs $71.29 an hour with taxes only and $86.60 with average benefits, using the same 2.7 percent on $9,000 example.
Why state unemployment tax changes the answer
Every state sets two numbers for a new employer: a contribution rate and a taxable wage base. The rates in the table run from 1.00% to 5.40%; the wage bases run from $7,000 (Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee) to $78,200 (Washington). Multiply them and divide by hours, and the state line on a median crew member’s hour ranges from $0.07 in Nebraska to $0.69 in Iowa.
- High wage base, modest rate. Washington taxes the first $78,200 of each worker’s pay (Washington ESD), so a full season of crew wages is taxable. Oregon ($56,700), Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska work the same way.
- Low wage base, higher rate. New York’s new-employer rate is 4.025 percent plus a 0.075 percent Re-employment Services Fund charge, but only on the first $17,600 (New York DOL).
- Construction classification. Several states charge new construction employers far more: 9.67 percent in North Dakota against 1.00 percent for other new employers (Job Service North Dakota), and 5.85 percent in Ohio against 2.85 percent (Ohio JFS). Landscaping services (NAICS 561730) is not a construction industry code, so the table uses the non-construction rate; a company the state codes as construction pays the higher one.
- Landscaping named in the law. Iowa’s statute puts a new “construction or landscaping” employer in the top rate rank, 5.4 percent in 2026, against 1.0 percent for other new employers (Iowa Code 96.7; Iowa Workforce Development rate computations). Iowa Workforce Development’s own guidance mentions only construction, so check how your account is coded; the table uses the statutory 5.4 percent.
- California’s federal penalty. California still owes the federal unemployment trust fund, so its employers lose part of the FUTA credit. The Department of Labor lists a potential 2026 reduction of at least 1.5 points and an estimated 5.3 points including add-ons, final on November 10, 2026 (U.S. DOL). The table uses the 1.5-point floor; at 5.3 points California’s FUTA cost would be about $413 per worker instead of $147.
The new-employer rate is a starting point. After two or three years, most states move a company to an experience rate driven by the unemployment claims its former workers file, and seasonal layoffs generate claims. Use the rate on your latest state notice once you have one.
Benefits: the biggest and least certain line
The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey for June 2026 (released September 9, 2026) does not publish a landscaping-only figure. The closest industry group is administrative and waste services (NAICS 56), which contains landscaping services. There, employers paid an average of $26.07 an hour in wages and $8.87 in benefits (Table 4). Of the $8.87, $2.80 was legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and workers’ comp), which we replace with each state’s own figures. The other $6.07 is the 23.3 percent load in the table.
| ECEC group (private industry, June 2026) | Wages per hour | Non-statutory benefits per hour | As % of wages | Legally required benefits per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative and waste services industry (used in our table) | $26.07 | $6.07 | 23.3% | $2.80 |
| Service occupations, professional and business services | $21.06 | $4.40 | 20.9% | $2.43 |
| Service occupations, all private industry | $18.26 | $3.40 | 18.6% | $2.08 |
| Construction industry | $36.13 | $11.41 | 31.6% | $4.42 |
The cross-checks put the realistic band at roughly 19 to 32 percent of wages for firms that offer a typical package. A small company that offers no health plan, no retirement match and no paid leave beyond what state law requires will sit far below the average; one that pays overtime premiums through the spring rush will see supplemental pay climb. Treat the “with benefits” column as an industry-average benchmark and the “taxes only” column as the legal floor.
Some states and cities also require paid sick leave, which turns part of the paid-leave line into a statutory cost. This page does not model those mandates state by state; check your state labor department.
Workers’ comp: why it is outside the table
Workers’ compensation can cost more per hour than federal and state unemployment tax combined, as Washington’s numbers below show, but in most states there is no public rate to cite. Private carriers price it per $100 of payroll by classification code, filed through a rating organization and then adjusted by each employer’s experience modification. A single number per state would be invented, so we leave it out of the main table rather than guess.
Washington is the clean exception. Its state fund, run by the Department of Labor & Industries, publishes an hourly rate for every risk class, split between employer and worker (L&I 2026 hourly rates; rates by business type). Applied to Washington’s median wages:
| Washington risk class (2026) | Composite rate per hour | Worker payroll deduction | Employer share per hour | WA crew member cost/hr, taxes + comp | WA 3-person crew/hr, taxes + comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0308 Lawn care maintenance | $1.4948 | $0.33235 | $1.16 | $25.83 | $90.60 |
| 0301 Landscape construction and renovation | $2.1811 | $0.42790 | $1.75 | $26.42 | $92.38 |
On Washington’s numbers, comp adds 5.2 percent to a maintenance crew member’s wage and 7.8 percent on an installation crew, more than federal and state unemployment tax combined. Ohio, North Dakota and Wyoming also run monopolistic state funds that publish base rates per $100 of payroll; they are not included here because we did not verify their 2026 landscaping rates for this edition. Everywhere else, get a quote for your class code and add it per hour.
Labor cost is not the rate you charge
Searchers asking for a “landscaping labor rate” usually mean the price a company bills per man-hour. That price has to carry the labor cost on this page plus equipment, trucks, fuel, insurance, office overhead, non-billable drive time and profit. No government source publishes landscaping prices by state, so we do not print a “going rate” here. What the data can tell you is the floor: a company billing below its burdened labor cost loses money before it buys fuel.
For the full build from crew cost to bid price, including overhead per billable hour and a worked maintenance and installation example, see how to bid landscaping jobs. For what consumers typically pay by project, see how much landscaping costs.
Questions landscaping employers ask about labor cost
What is the average labor rate for landscaping?
The median wage for landscaping and groundskeeping workers was $18.82 an hour in May 2025, and $28.09 for first-line supervisors (BLS OEWS). Average hourly earnings across all employees of landscaping companies, including managers and office staff, were $27.63 in 2025 (BLS CES). The employer’s cost for a median crew member is about $20.44 an hour with payroll taxes and $24.82 with average benefits; the price a company bills is higher again.
How do you calculate labor cost for landscaping?
Start with the hourly wage. Add employer Social Security (6.2 percent) and Medicare (1.45 percent); add FUTA and state unemployment tax by taking each one’s annual dollars per worker (rate times the smaller of the wage base or annual pay) and dividing by paid hours; add workers’ comp at your carrier’s rate for the class code; add benefits you actually pay. Multiply the result by crew size. Divide by the share of paid hours that are billable to get cost per billable hour.
Is 20 an hour good for landscaping?
It is above the national median of $18.82 and close to the 75th percentile of $22.52 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). By state, $20 is at or above the crew-member median in 34 of 51 jurisdictions. In the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Alaska and Washington, where medians top $22.50, it is below the typical wage. For the employer, a $20 crew member costs roughly $21.63 to $22.24 an hour with payroll taxes alone, depending on the state.
Is $100 an hour too much for landscape work?
It depends on how many people that hour buys. A three-person crew costs its employer $57.48 to $87.12 an hour in wages and payroll taxes, or $69.84 to $105.68 with average benefits, before workers’ comp, equipment, overhead and profit. On those numbers, $100 for a full crew-hour is thin in most states. For a single worker, $100 is about 4 to 6 times the taxes-only labor cost, and the balance pays for the truck, the equipment, insurance, travel time and the owner.
What state pays landscapers the most?
Massachusetts has the highest state median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers at $23.40 an hour; the District of Columbia is slightly higher at $23.46 but employs only about 800 such workers. Mississippi is lowest at $15.21 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). For crew leaders, Delaware’s median of $35.74 is highest. More detail is in our landscaper salary by state table.
What is a typical labor burden percentage?
On our state-by-state math, statutory payroll taxes add 8.2 to 11.5 percent to a median landscaping wage. Average non-statutory benefits in the industry group that includes landscaping add another 23.3 percent (BLS ECEC, June 2026). At Washington’s 2026 state-fund rates, workers’ comp equals about 5 percent of a Washington maintenance worker’s median wage and 8 percent for installation work. Stack them and a company offering typical benefits lands near 37 to 43 percent; one offering no benefits is closer to 13 to 19 percent once comp is included.
How we built these numbers
Wages. State medians for SOC 37-3011 (landscaping and groundskeeping workers) and 37-1012 (first-line supervisors of landscaping workers) come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 state file, released May 15, 2026. They are cross-industry medians, so they include groundskeepers at golf courses, schools and property managers, not only landscaping companies. Nationally, about 60 percent of 37-3011 workers are employed by landscaping-services firms (OEWS industry estimates, NAICS 561730).
Hours. We assume 1,600 paid hours per worker per year, about 41 weeks at the 39.0-hour average workweek BLS CES reports for landscaping services in 2025. Hours only matter for the capped taxes (FUTA and state unemployment). More hours lower the per-hour cost in states with low wage bases: in Texas, $243 of state tax spread over 2,080 hours is $0.12 an hour instead of $0.15.
Payroll taxes. Employer Social Security 6.2 percent and Medicare 1.45 percent of every wage dollar (IRS Publication 15, 2026; the $184,500 Social Security cap never binds at these wages). FUTA 0.6 percent of the first $7,000 (IRS Topic 759), plus 1.5 points in California for the potential 2026 credit reduction (U.S. DOL). State unemployment: the 2026 new-employer rate for a non-construction employer times the smaller of the state’s 2026 taxable wage base or the worker’s annual pay, divided by 1,600. Rates and bases were confirmed for 2026 on the state agency’s own page or statute for 23 jurisdictions; for the rest we used undated agency pages or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Significant Provisions of State UI Laws, effective July 2026, which lists each state’s base new-employer rate and does not include add-on surcharges. For 6 states that assign new employers an industry-average rate we could not obtain, the table uses a 2.7 percent placeholder, tied with 1.0 percent as the most common confirmed new-employer rate in the table, and marks the row “est.”; the CSV notes say which. Using 1.0 percent instead would cut those states’ crew-member cost by $0.07 to $0.38 an hour. Where an agency lists add-on assessments paid on the same wages (for example Maine’s 0.14 and 0.17 percent funds, Hawaii’s 0.01 percent training assessment, California’s 0.1 percent employment training tax), they are included in the rate shown.
Worked example, Texas crew member. Wage $17.66. FICA: $17.66 × 7.65% = $1.35. FUTA: $7,000 × 0.6% = $42 ÷ 1,600 = $0.03. State: $9,000 × 2.7% = $243 ÷ 1,600 = $0.15. Taxes-only cost $19.19. Benefits: $17.66 × 23.28% = $4.11, for $23.30. Crew: leader $24.83 + 2 × $19.19 = $63.21 taxes only.
Worked example, Washington crew member. Wage $22.57. FICA $1.73; FUTA $0.03. State: annual pay of $36,112 is under the $78,200 wage base, so the whole wage is taxed: $22.57 × 1.53% = $0.35 (rate estimated; see table note). Taxes-only cost $24.67.
Benefits. From BLS ECEC Table 4, June 2026, private industry, administrative and waste services: paid leave $2.01 + supplemental pay $1.27 + insurance $2.24 + retirement and savings $0.55 = $6.07 per hour worked, divided by $26.07 in wages = 23.28 percent, applied to each state’s wage. Legally required benefits ($2.80) are excluded because we compute them state by state. ECEC measures cost per hour worked, while our tax lines are per paid hour; the difference is small next to the uncertainty in the benefit load itself.
What is not included. Workers’ compensation (except the Washington example), general liability insurance, state paid-family-leave and disability premiums, local payroll taxes, overtime above what the ECEC average reflects, uniforms, training, recruiting and non-billable time. All cost figures are estimates for a new employer paying the state median wage. Rounding is to the cent.
Download the data. The full table with every intermediate column (FICA, FUTA and state tax per hour, benefit cost, source status and source URL for each state rate) and the BLS wage file it starts from. Free to reuse with a link back to this page.
- Landscaping labor cost by state, 2026: burdened crew cost per hour (CSV)
- BLS OEWS May 2025, landscape occupations by state (CSV)
Related: the landscaping industry by state data set (firms, jobs and payroll), license requirements by state, and more operator guides in Business. How we source and calculate figures is on our methodology page.
This page is general information, not tax, legal or insurance advice. Unemployment rates, wage bases and workers’ compensation rates change each year and depend on how the state classifies your business; confirm your own rates with your state workforce agency, the IRS and your insurance carrier before you budget or bid.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, 37-3011 Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers, May 2025. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, 37-1012 First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers, May 2025. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS tables and state data files (oesm25st), May 2025; released May 15, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS industry-specific estimates, NAICS 561730 Landscaping Services, May 2025. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Table 4: Private industry workers by occupational and industry group, June 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release (USDL-26-1494), June 2026; released September 9, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES series CEU6056173002, average weekly hours, landscaping services, 2025 annual average. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES series CEU6056173003, average hourly earnings, landscaping services, 2025 annual average. Accessed October 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 759, Form 940: Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, current as of October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance, FUTA Credit Reductions (actual 2010-2025; potential 2026), files dated December 9, 2025 and January 15, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance, Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2026 Hourly Rates by Risk Classification Code and Fund, 2026 rates. Accessed October 2026.
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2026 Rates by Business Type and Class Code, 2026 rates. Accessed October 2026.
- Alabama Department of Workforce, Alabama unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Alaska unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Arizona State Legislature (Arizona Revised Statutes), A.R.S. 23-729, new employer contribution rate, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Arkansas unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- California Employment Development Department, California unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Connecticut Department of Labor, Connecticut unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Delaware Code (Title 19), Title 19, Chapter 33, Subchapter III, contribution rates, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, District of Columbia unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Florida Department of Revenue, Florida unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Georgia Department of Labor, Georgia unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Hawaii unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Indiana unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Iowa Legislature (Iowa Code), Iowa Code 96.7, contribution rates (construction or landscaping employers), 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Iowa Workforce Development, Information on Rate Computations for Private Employers (70-5015), 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes, K.S.A. 44-710a, contribution rates, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance, Kentucky unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Louisiana State Legislature (Revised Statutes), Louisiana Revised Statutes, Title 23, new employer contribution rate, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Maine Department of Labor, Maine unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Maryland Department of Labor, Maryland unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minn. Stat. 268.051, new employer tax rate, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Mississippi unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Missouri unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Montana unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, New Jersey unemployment insurance tax rates and taxable wage base, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- New York State Department of Labor, Current 2026 Employer Contribution Rate, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- North Carolina Division of Employment Security, Important Information for Annual Experience Rating for 2026 Tax Rates, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Job Service North Dakota, 2026 Unemployment Insurance Tax Rate Schedules, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Rate Year 2026 contribution rate details, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, Employer Important Numbers for 2026, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Oregon Employment Department, 2026 unemployment insurance tax rate announcement (November 18, 2025), 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Vermont Department of Labor, Unemployment Insurance Taxable Wage Base for 2026, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Washington State Employment Security Department, About unemployment tax rates (2026), 2026. Accessed October 2026.
