👉 Are Your Salary Offers Keeping Up With the Arboriculture Market?

Why Competitive Salaries Are More Important Than Ever in Arboriculture

The arboriculture and tree-work sector is evolving fast — and with meaningful change comes a challenge for many employers: salary levels. At Arbjobs, our 2025 salary-review shows real shifts in pay rates, role specialisation and regional variation across the UK. But the data also signals a warning to employers: posting low salary ranges may be hurting recruitment outcomes, and ultimately could damage your business.

What the Data Tells Us

Based on verified job-postings on Arbjobs from January to December 2024, we found: 

• The average salary across all arboriculture roles in the UK was £34,520. 

• By role:

  • Management/Leadership: ~£39,200 (+5.1 % year-on-year) 

  • Arborist Climbers: ~£34,850 (+6.9 %) 

  • Inspectors & Surveyors: ~£33,900 (+5.1 %)

  • Tree Surgeons: ~£33,250 (+3.8 %) 

  • Ground Staff: ~£31,400 (+3.9 %) 

• Regional differences remain significant:

  • London/Greater London: ~£35,730 (+7.6% above national average) 

  • Northern Counties: ~£31,047 (−6.4% below national average)

• Although salaries have increased (≈4.96% across all roles in 2024) they do not fully offset inflationary pressures for many workers in the sector. 

Why Low Salary Offers Matter — From a Recruitment Perspective

Here’s why setting salary ranges too low (or failing to benchmark properly) can risk more than just disgruntled applicants:

1. Talent Attraction & Competition
   With an average around £34.5k, if you’re advertising substantially below that, you may struggle to attract candidates with the right experience or certifications. The more specialist the role (e.g., experienced climbers, team leaders and surveyors), the more pay premium is required so we would recommend the average salary is at least the minimum rate on offer in any campaign.

2. Retention & Engagement
   Even if someone accepts a lower-salary role, the feeling of being under-paid compared to peers or market rates may lead to lower engagement, higher turnover in staff and increased recruitment and training costs for replacement staff.

3. Employer Brand & Perception
   Salary communicates value. When job-ads show modest pay with high responsibilities — or complex work conditions — it can signal “we expect a lot for little”. That harms your standing as an employer in a small and competitive arborist labour market.

4. Regional Considerations
   If you operate in a region with a lower average salaries (for example Northern Counties), you might still need to offer more than local norms if you want to attract people willing to travel or relocate. The data we have collated shows how regions affect pay.

What Employers Can Do — Practical Steps

Based on our findings, here are five actionable ways to make salary offers market-appropriate — and better position your company for success in staff recruitment and retention:

• Benchmark your roles
  Use our data (or similar sources) to compare your job roles against national and regional averages. For example: if you’re hiring a climber, £34.8k is around the current national average. If you list significantly less, you will almost certainly fail to attract the best workers.

• Be transparent about what the salary covers
  If the base pay is lower, clearly highlight why you’ve structured the package that way — e.g., robust training, progression routes, strong benefits package, travel allowance, etc. Transparency builds trust.

• Use benefits and training as differentiators
  Our survey showed that roles offering additional perks (training budgets, certification support, travel allowances or accommodation) consistently perform better in candidate attraction.

• Adjust regionally
  If you’re operating in a region where the average is lower, but the role requires specialist skill or travel, consider aligning more closely with national rather than purely regional salary norms.

• Progression pathway matters
  If you’re hiring entry level staff at the lower end of the scale, explicitly map out how they can move to higher-paid roles (Climber, Team Lead, Surveyor, Arb Manager). That can make a lower starting salary more palatable with the potential career opportunities. 

Why This Isn’t Just Good for Candidates — It’s Good for Business

By aligning your salary offers with market realities, you:

• Access a broader, more qualified and experienced applicant pool

• Reduce time-to-fill and cost per hire

• Reduce training, equipment and PPE costs 

• Strengthen your employer brand in the arboriculture space

• Improve staff retention and morale

In short, you improve both recruitment effectiveness and operational stability.

Final Thoughts

The data from Arbjobs shows that while salary growth in arboriculture is positive, the margin between average and “good” salaries remains meaningful. For employers, low salary offers aren’t just an internal budgeting decision — they influence hiring outcomes, team quality and long-term success of your business.

If you’re posting a role today: ask “Does this salary reflect the market for the skills required, the region, and the responsibility we expect?” If the answer is no, it may be worth revisiting your offer structure.

At Arbjobs, we’re committed to helping you post roles that attract the right people — not just fill seats. Because when pay reflects value, everyone wins.

Read the full report here: https://arbjobs.com/blog/arborist-salaries-report-2025