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Boston Career Explorer

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and workforce requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.

Also called: Field Manager, Golf Course Superintendent, Grounds Crew Supervisor, Grounds Foreman, Grounds Maintenance Supervisor, Grounds Manager

Compare with my current job (First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$68,100
$32.74/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
1,690
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+3.0%
420 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
Less than 5 years of related work experience

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$47,640$60,080$68,100$84,020$100,310

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
  • Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
  • Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
  • Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
  • Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
  • Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure35 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 31
  • Language-model AIOE 33
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 42

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for landscaping and groundskeeping supervisors is moderate, and observed AI use is some. AI tools can help with scheduling crews around weather, preparing estimates, and tracking deadlines. Walking the grounds, judging plants and soil, and directing workers in the field still rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Scheduling crews around weather and equipment
  • Preparing job estimates and tracking deadlines

Still relies on people

  • Inspecting plants and soil on site
  • Directing crews and enforcing safety

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

2 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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