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California · Landscape & Irrigation Laborer · 11 counties

Landscape & Irrigation Laborer prevailing wage, Southern California (11 counties)

DIR sets the same landscape and irrigation laborer rates, row for row, in 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.

$76.67an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Landscape/Irrigation Laborer

$47.57 base wage + $29.10 fringe benefits

On California public works in each of these 11 counties, a landscape and irrigation laborer working as landscape/irrigation laborer must be paid at least $76.67 an hour in total: $47.57 in wages plus $29.10 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $100.455 and Sunday and holiday work is $124.24.

DIR general determination SC-102-X-14-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires July 31, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.

DIR lists 3 landscape and irrigation laborer rates for each of these counties, from $30.19 to $77.77 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe benefits: $47.57 + $29.10

The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, the fringe benefits DIR calls employer payments, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $76.67 or more.

Basic hourly rate (taxable wage)$47.57
Health and welfare$9.85
Pension$12.92
Vacation and holiday (footnote a)$5.02
Training$0.80
Other payments$0.51
Total straight-time hourly rate$76.67

Straight time covers an 8-hour day.

When does this rate change?

Scheduled increases

Current rate, DIR Aug 22, 2026Increases DIR has already set

DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.

Takes effectIncrease per hourTotal after increase
August 1, 2027+$3.65$80.32
August 1, 2028+$3.75$84.07
August 1, 2029+$4.03$88.10

The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).

Source: DIR increase PDF

Every landscape and irrigation laborer rate in Southern California

As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.

  1. Landscape Hydro Seeder$77.77
  2. Landscape/Irrigation Laborer$76.67
  3. Landscape/Irrigation Tender$30.19
Total hourly rate of each landscape and irrigation laborer classification in Southern California, highest first, split into base wage and fringe benefits.
ClassificationBase wageFringe benefitsTotal rateDaily OTDetermination
Landscape Hydro Seeder$48.67 $29.10 $77.77 $102.105SC-102-X-14-2026-1
Landscape/Irrigation Laborer$47.57 $29.10 $76.67 $100.455SC-102-X-14-2026-1
Landscape/Irrigation Tender$21.97 $8.22 $30.19 $41.175SC-102-X-14-2026-1

Davis-Bacon landscape and irrigation laborer rates in these counties

The counties share DIR's rates, but not always the same federal wage determination. When a California awarding body runs a federally funded or assisted project, DIR's rates must be paid where they are higher than the Davis-Bacon rates (DIR public works FAQ).

CountyFederal classificationBase + fringeWDvs DIR
Imperial CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Inyo CountyNo federal row for this trade
Kern CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Los Angeles CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Mono CountyNo federal row for this trade
Orange CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Riverside CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
San Bernardino CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
San Luis Obispo CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Santa Barbara CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Ventura CountyFederal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match

How Southern California compares

The main landscape and irrigation laborer rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.

Every county in California

$58.28Alameda$76.67Imperial
Los AngelesNearby: Imperial $76.67, Inyo $76.67, Kern $76.67, Mono $76.67, Orange $76.67, Riverside $76.67, San Bernardino $76.67, San Luis Obispo $76.67, Santa Barbara $76.67, Ventura $76.67Each column is a group of counties with about the same main rate; its height is how many. 0 counties pay more than Los Angeles, 11 the same, 36 less.

Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby

  1. Southern Californiabase $47.57$76.67
  2. Ventura Countybase $47.57$76.67
  3. Orange Countybase $47.57$76.67
  4. Monterey Countybase $39.11$58.28

Which county is in which landscape and irrigation laborer group

Every California county with a landscape and irrigation laborer rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.

CountiesMain classificationBase wageTotal rate
Southern California, 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, VenturaLandscape/Irrigation Laborer$47.57 $76.67 
San Diego CountyLandscape/Irrigation Laborer$47.57 $76.67 
Northern California, 36 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lassen, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, YubaLandscape/Irrigation Technician I$39.11 $58.28 

2 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 1 county with rates of its own.

California landscape and irrigation laborer prevailing wage by county, with a map

Footnotes on this rate

DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.

DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.

More from DIR on this rate

Every trade's rates, county by county: Imperial · Inyo · Kern · Los Angeles · Mono · Orange · Riverside · San Bernardino · San Luis Obispo · Santa Barbara · Ventura

Are you being paid this rate?

Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $76.67. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.

Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.

Source

California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination SC-102-X-14-2026-1, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Southern/SC-102-X-14.pdf

Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download every California rate as CSV · Report an error