Tree Trimmers and Pruners
Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cut away dead or excess branches from trees or shrubs to maintain right-of-way for roads, sidewalks, or utilities, or to improve appearance, health, and value of tree. Prune or treat trees or shrubs using handsaws, hand pruners, clippers, and power pruners. Works off the ground in the tree canopy and may use truck-mounted lifts.
55,160 people do this job in the US. $50,960 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 9%
- 0%
- 91%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 3%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supervise others engaged in tree trimming work and train lower-level employees.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Trim, top, and reshape trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut away dead and excess branches from trees, or clear branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Prune, cut down, fertilize, and spray trees as directed by tree surgeons.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan and develop budgets for tree work, and estimate the monetary value of trees.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 32%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Clear sites, streets, and grounds of woody and herbaceous materials, such as tree stumps and fallen trees and limbs.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate shredding and chipping equipment, and feed limbs and brush into the machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Hoist tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lower branches with ropes or block and tackle.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect debris and refuse from tree trimming and removal operations into piles, using shovels, rakes, or other tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Load debris and refuse onto trucks and haul it away for disposal.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Spray trees to treat diseased or unhealthy trees, including mixing chemicals and calibrating spray equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Fallers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation18% now, 18% by 2028
- Forest and Conservation Workers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse4% now, 4% by 2028
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators9% now, 9% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).