Best First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities.
15 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 555 people a year. The job pays a median of $53,340 in Illinois across about 3,460 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 01.0601In Illinois → | 483 | 87.0% | 11 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0605In Illinois → | 32 | 5.8% | 8 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 3 | CIP 01.0604In Illinois → | 24 | 4.3% | 4 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 4 | CIP 01.0603In Illinois → | 14 | 2.5% | 3 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 5 | CIP 01.0607In Illinois → | 2 | 0.4% | 1 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
Top 15 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 15 schools in this state.
All 15 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Land College | Mattoon | Public | 383 | 1 |
| Southwestern Illinois College | Belleville | Public | 30 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 21 | 4 |
| McHenry County College | Crystal Lake | Public | 17 | 1 |
| College of Lake County | Grayslake | Public | 15 | 2 |
| Kankakee Community College | Kankakee | Public | 15 | 2 |
| Joliet Junior College | Joliet | Public | 14 | 3 |
| City Colleges of Chicago - Olive - Harvey College | Chicago | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Illinois Central College | East Peoria | Public | 11 | 3 |
| Kishwaukee College | Malta | Public | 11 | 3 |
| Triton College | River Grove | Public | 11 | 2 |
| Parkland College | Champaign | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Highland Community College | Freeport | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Lincoln Land Community College | Springfield | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Richland Community College | Decatur | Public | 1 | 1 |
What first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $58,430. Illinois pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers page.
How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 7 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0601Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General
- 01.0603Ornamental Horticulture
- 01.0604Greenhouse Operations and Management
- 01.0605Landscaping and Groundskeeping
- 01.0606Plant Nursery Operations and Management
- 01.0607Turf and Turfgrass Management
- 31.0302Golf Course Operation and Grounds Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General, which awarded 483 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 87.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services. Together they graduate about 555 people a year in Illinois.
How much do first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers earn in Illinois?+
The median is $53,340 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.7% below the U.S. median of $58,430. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers growing?+
BLS projects a +2.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 23,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
15 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Grounds Manager, Grounds Supervisor, Landscape Supervisor, Golf Course Superintendent among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 37-1012.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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