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Tree work is one of the most dangerous ways to earn a living in America, and the federal
fatality census puts numbers on exactly how. In 2024, 99 tree trimmers and pruners were
killed on the job — inside a grounds maintenance occupation group whose
239 deaths made it deadlier than the year before (226), in a year when fatalities
across all U.S. workers fell 4 percent. The group’s published fatality rate of
20.9 per 100,000 full-time workers is more than six times the all-worker rate of 3.3.
Where tree work sits among dangerous jobs
BLS publishes hours-based fatality rates for occupations with reliable workforce data. Grounds
maintenance — the class that contains tree trimmers — sits above construction laborers
and just below truck driving:
| Occupation | Fatal injuries per 100,000 FTE (2024) | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|
| Logging workers | 110.4 | ±34.88 |
| Fishing and hunting workers | 88.8 | ±42.31 |
| Roofers | 48.7 | ±7.38 |
| Structural iron and steel workers | 37.8 | ±13.35 |
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors | 37.4 | ±8.15 |
| Aircraft pilots and flight engineers | 36.7 | ±6.28 |
| Driver/sales workers and truck drivers | 25.7 | ±1.14 |
| Grounds maintenance workers (includes tree trimmers) | 20.9 | ±1.33 |
| Construction laborers | 15.8 | ±0.86 |
| First-line supervisors of landscaping and groundskeeping | 12.3 | ±2.06 |
| HVAC mechanics and installers | 6.7 | ±0.71 |
| Electricians | 5.3 | ±0.40 |
| Firefighters | 4.0 | ±0.57 |
| Janitors and building cleaners | 3.0 | ±0.14 |
| All workers | 3.3 | ±0.01 |
A number you will see elsewhere that we do not publish: a “110 per
100,000” fatality rate is often quoted for tree trimmers. BLS publishes no rate for tree
trimmers specifically — it has no reliable full-time-equivalent count to divide by —
and 110.4 is BLS’s published 2024 rate for logging workers, a different occupation.
The honest statement is: 99 deaths in 2024, in a class whose published rate is 20.9, with the
true trimmer-specific rate likely higher than the class average but not federally measured.
How tree workers are killed: the tree, not the truck
| How the fatal injury happened (2024) | Tree trimmers & pruners | Landscaping & groundskeeping workers |
|---|---|---|
| Falls, slips, trips | 39 | 22 |
| Contact incidents (struck by object or equipment) | 39 | 22 |
| Exposure to harmful substances or environments (includes electrocution) | 12 | 19 |
| Transportation incidents | 7 | 62 |
| Total fatal injuries | 99 | 131 |
The event pattern is what distinguishes tree work from the rest of landscaping.
Falls and struck-by incidents each account for roughly 40 percent of tree trimmer
deaths — the height and the wood itself — with electrocution-type exposure
events next. General landscaping deaths are dominated by transportation incidents (62 of 131).
The dangers a tree business insures against are not the dangers a mowing crew insures against.
What this has to do with licensing
This data is the reason tree-work regulation, where it exists, is built around insurance:
- Hawaii ties its Tree Trimming and Removal
Contractor license to continuous liability and workers’ comp coverage — a lapse
forfeits the license automatically. - Maine defines $150,000/$300,000 liability
minimums in rule and audits its insurance affidavits at random;
New Jersey requires $1,000,000. - Four states — North Dakota,
Ohio,
Washington, and
Wyoming — run monopolistic state-fund
workers’ comp, with coverage required before crews begin working. - The full state-by-state picture — who licenses tree work, what insurance attaches, and
per-tree penalty schedules — is in our
arborist license index. What tree trimmers earn for taking
this risk is in wages by state.
Frequently asked questions
How many tree workers die on the job each year?
BLS’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries recorded 99 fatal injuries among tree trimmers and pruners in 2024, within a broader grounds maintenance group that lost 239 workers. The grounds maintenance total rose from 226 in 2023 even as fatalities across all U.S. workers fell 4 percent.
What is the fatality rate for tree trimmers?
BLS does not publish one — it has no reliable count of full-time-equivalent tree trimmers to divide by. The closest published class is grounds maintenance workers as a whole: 20.9 deaths per 100,000 FTE in 2024, over six times the all-worker rate of 3.3. Figures like ‘110 per 100,000’ that circulate for tree work match BLS’s published rate for logging workers, a different occupation.
How do tree workers get killed?
In 2024, falls (39) and being struck by an object or equipment (39) each accounted for about 40 percent of tree trimmer and pruner deaths, with exposure events including electrocution (12) next. That pattern is the opposite of landscaping generally, where transportation incidents dominate — the danger in tree work is the tree and the height, not the drive.
Why do states demand so much insurance for tree work?
This data is the actuarial reason. The states that license tree work directly tie the license to liability cover — Hawaii’s license terminates automatically if coverage lapses; Maine requires $150,000/$300,000; New Jersey $1,000,000 — and four states run monopolistic state-fund workers’ comp that must be in place before crews start. Our arborist license index compares all of it state by state.
Sources
- BLS — Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release (February 19, 2026) —
summary and
Table 3 (occupation counts 2020–24) - BLS — Fatal occupational injuries by occupation and event, Table A-5, 2024 (tree trimmer
and landscaping counts and event breakdowns) —
XLSX - BLS — National hours-based fatal injury rates, 2024 (all rates quoted above, with margins
of error) —
XLSX