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venues, and other outdoor spaces) to landscape architects (the
people who actually design these outdoor spaces).
The pay: Grounds maintenance workers, since the work is less
skilled, are on the lower side of the pay scale, earning a median
salary of $37,690 per year, according to BLS. Landscape architects,
meanwhile, earn a median salary of more than $79,000 annually.
The prospects: BLS is projecting substantial growth for grounds
maintenance workers, thanks to skyrocketing demand for land-
scaping services from homeowners, businesses, and governments.
Between 2022 and 2032, that side of the landscaping industry is
expected to grow three percent, bringing more than 44,000 new
jobs into the world. Landscape architects are much fewer and
farther between: there were only 23,600 jobs in this career path in
the U.S. as of 2022, and BLS is predicting just a slight uptick in that
number (by 200 jobs or so) between now and 2032.
The education: Grounds maintenance is essentially the “entry level”
of landscaping. Workers in this part of the trade build their skills
through on-the-job training,though grounds maintenance profes-
sionals charged with applying pesticides and fertilizers will need to
go through a licensing process in most states. Landscape archi-
tects are more likely to need post-secondary schooling, and some
landscape architects even have their masters’ degree in the craft.
Greenhouse technicians
The job: Greenhouse technicians work in greenhouses, laboratories,
food processing plants, and other similar environments, working
alongside agricultural scientists and food scientists to assist
with food research, development, cultivation, and quality control.
Sometimes these jobs mostly focus on growing specific types of
plants and crops in greenhouses, a growing point of interest in
agriculture as more farmers and food companies invest in indoor
growing techniques. Other times, greenhouse technicians work in
experimental capacities, doing quite a bit of sampling and analysis
in pursuit of better growing techniques. For instance, innovations