Groundsmen and greenkeepers: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 5114 · Skilled trades occupations

Groundsmen and greenkeepers

Groundsmen and greenkeepers cut and lay turf and maintain areas for golf courses and other sports grounds.

How people enter it

There are no formal academic entry requirements. NVQs/SVQs in Sports Turf Management are available at level 4. Apprenticeships and professional qualifications are also available.

What the work involves

levels ground and installs drainage system as required
cuts and lays turf using hand and machine tools and repairs damaged turf
moves soil to alter surface contour of land using mechanical equipment and constructs appropriate landscaping features and maintains such features
monitors and maintains the quality and condition of turf
rolls, mows and waters grass, marks out pitches

Also called

Greenkeeper · Groundsman · Groundsperson

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	23,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	25,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	29,800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	4,800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	30,700.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	None	2026-03	2,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	2,500.00	2026-03
East Midlands	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	3,800.00	2026-03
London	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	withheld	2026-03
North East	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	2,400.00	2026-03
North West	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	3,400.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	800.00	2026-03
Scotland	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	4,800.00	2026-03
South East	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	3,200.00	2026-03
South West	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	3,700.00	2026-03
Wales	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	2,000.00	2026-03
West Midlands	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	1,000.00	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	5114 : Groundsmen and greenkeepers	None	2,700.00	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for groundsmen and greenkeepers vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 11 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c. · Farmers · Gardeners and landscape gardeners · Horticultural trades