OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Keep buildings in clean and orderly condition. Perform heavy cleaning duties, such as cleaning floors, shampooing rugs, washing walls and glass, and removing rubbish. Duties may include tending furnace and boiler, performing routine maintenance activities, notifying management of need for repairs, and cleaning snow or debris from sidewalk.
Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Janitors and building cleaners typically do the following:
- Gather and empty trash
- Sweep, mop, or vacuum building floors
- Clean restrooms and stock them with supplies
- Lock doors to secure buildings
- Clean spills and other hazards with appropriate equipment
- Wash windows, walls, and glass
- Order cleaning supplies
- Make minor building repairs
- Notify managers when a building needs major repairs
Janitors and building cleaners keep office buildings, schools, hospitals, retail stores, hotels, and other places clean, sanitary, and in good condition. Some only clean, while others have a wide range of duties.
In addition to keeping the inside of buildings clean and orderly, some janitors and building cleaners work outdoors, mowing lawns, sweeping walkways, and removing snow. Some workers also monitor the building’s heating and cooling system, ensuring that it functions properly.
Janitors and building cleaners use many tools and equipment. Simple cleaning tools may include mops, brooms, rakes, and shovels. Other tools may include snowblowers, floor buffers, and carpet extraction equipment.
Some janitors are responsible for repairing minor electrical or plumbing problems, such as leaky faucets.
The following are examples of types of janitors and building cleaners:
Building superintendents are responsible for maintaining residential buildings, such as apartments and condominiums. Although their duties are similar to those of other janitors, some building superintendents also help collect rent and show vacancies to potential tenants.
Custodians are janitors or cleaning workers who typically maintain institutional facilities, such as public schools and hospitals.
Salary
Median salary: $29,080 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $24,140 and $36,600.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for building cleaners
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Janitors and Cleaners
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of janitors and cleaners who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Responsible for Others' Health (65%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (63%)
- Time Pressure (57%)
- Hazardous Conditions (54%)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (37%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Janitors and Cleaners? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Interpersonal skills
Janitors and building cleaners should get along well with their supervisors, other cleaners, and the people who live or work in the buildings they clean.
Mechanical skills
Janitors and building cleaners should understand general building operations. They should be able to make routine repairs, such as repairing leaky faucets.
Physical stamina
Janitors and building cleaners spend most of their workday on their feet, operating cleaning equipment and lifting and moving supplies or tools. As a result, they should have good physical stamina.
Physical strength
Janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move cleaning materials and heavy equipment. Cases of liquid cleaner and trash receptacles, for example, can be very heavy, so workers should be strong enough to lift them without injuring their back.
Time-management skills
Janitors and building cleaners should be able to plan and complete tasks in a timely manner.
Injury and Illness
About 157 janitors and cleaners become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 90% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Chemical burns and corrosions
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Bruises and contusions
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by janitors and cleaners
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), janitors and cleaners typically hold no formal educational credential.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as building cleaners as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for janitors and cleaners
Janitors and building cleaners do not need any formal educational credential. However, high school courses in shop can be helpful for jobs involving repair work.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for janitors and cleaners
Although not required, certification is available through the Building Service Contractors Association International, the IEHA (formerly International Executive Housekeepers Association), and ISSA—The International Sanitary Supply Association. Certification can demonstrate competence and may make applicants more appealing to employers.
Education level of Building Cleaners
Only 5% of building cleaners have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by building cleaners
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Building Cleaners per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most janitors and cleaners? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as janitors and cleaners. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where janitors and cleaners earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for building cleaners compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for building cleaners.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which building cleaners earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Building Cleaners (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
30% of Building cleaners are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 30% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 84% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of building cleaners by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Building cleaners and gender
With 27% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 59% of careers.
Gender of Building cleaners
Men (73%)
Women (27%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for building cleaners tops that, with the median salary for
men 37% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Building cleaners
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Building cleaners.
Race/origin of building cleaners
White (64% )
Black (17% )
Other (11% )
Asian (3% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
