Typical Pay

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010, those who worked as groundskeepers and landscapers in death care services averaged $25,430 per year. Converted into hourly pay, this is $12.23. Pay increased for death services groundskeepers and others in the general landscaping and groundskeeping category by 0.3 percent between 2009 and 2010.
  
  

Range

• Cemetery groundskeepers are classified in the general "Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers" category with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay in the lowest 10th percentile for this category was $16,960 annually. This equates to $8.16 hourly. In the 90th percentile, workers received $37,240 per year, or about $17.90 per hour. Another source, the Online College Guru website, reports that the range for all groundskeepers, including those in cemeteries, was $20,000 to $36,000 per year as of 2010.
  
  

Pay by Experience

• Cemetery groundskeepers and other land caretakers need very little in terms of education, as most groundskeepers learn on the job. However, experience does result in a higher pay rate, as shown by 2010 data from Online College Guru. Groundskeepers with one to four years in the industry made $8.75 to $12.22, or $18,200 to $25,418. Five to nine years of experience provided $9.94 to $14.42 per hour, or $20,675 to $29,994 per year. With 10 to 19 years in this sector, pay was $11.48 to $17.41, or $23,878 to $36,213 annually. The highest pay, $13.20 to $18.70 per hour, or $27,456 to $38,896 annually, went to those with 20 or more years of experience.
  
  

Pay by Location

• Where a cemetery groundskeeper works has some bearing on his pay. The lowest-paying region for landscapers and groundskeepers according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2010 was West Virginia, which paid $20,740 per year. Mississippi provided $21,720, while pay in Oklahoma was $22,130. Annual compensation for South Carolina and Texas was similar at $22,420 and $22,450, respectively.
  
  The top pay for the industry in 2010 was in the District of Columbia, where rates averaged $34,910. The second-highest-paying area was Alaska at $32,830. In Massachusetts, pay was $31,700. Both Washington and Connecticut provided $30,340.