OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Apply or release chemical solutions or toxic gases and set traps to kill or remove pests and vermin that infest buildings and surrounding areas.
Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Pest control workers typically do the following:
- Inspect buildings and premises for signs of pests or infestation
- Determine the type of treatment needed to eliminate pests
- Measure the dimensions of the area needing treatment
- Estimate the cost of their services
- Use baits and set traps to remove, control, or eliminate pests
- Apply pesticides in and around buildings and other structures
- Design and carry out pest management plans
- Drive trucks equipped with power spraying equipment
- Create barriers to prevent pests from entering a building
Unwanted pests that infest buildings and surrounding areas can pose serious risks to the health and safety of occupants. Pest control workers control, manage, and remove these creatures from homes, apartments, offices, and other structures to protect people and to maintain the structural integrity of buildings.
To design and carry out integrated pest management plans, pest control workers must know the identity and biology of a wide range of pests. They must also know the best ways to control and remove the pests.
Although roaches, rats, ants, bedbugs, ticks, and termites are the most common pests, some pest control workers also remove birds, squirrels, and other wildlife from homes and buildings.
Pest control workers’ position titles and job duties often vary by state.
The following are examples of types of pest control workers:
Pest control technicians identify potential and actual pest problems, conduct inspections, and design control strategies. They work directly with customers and, as entry-level workers, use only a limited range of pesticides.
Applicators use a wide range of pesticides and may specialize in a particular area of pest control:
- Termite control technicians may use chemicals or baiting techniques and modify structures to eliminate termites and prevent future infestations. Some also repair structural damage caused by termites and build barriers to separate pests from their food source.
- Fumigators use gases, called fumigants, to treat specific kinds of pests or large-scale infestations. Fumigators seal infested buildings before using hoses to fill the structure with fumigants. They post warning signs to keep people from going into fumigated buildings and monitor buildings closely to detect and stop leaks.
Salary
Median salary: $37,820 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $30,450 and $48,570.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for pest control workers
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 Pest Control Workers
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 pest control workers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Exposed to Contaminants (91%)
- Time Pressure (76%)
- Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (55%)
- Hazardous Conditions (53%)
- Consequence of Error (41%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (35%)
- Unpleasant or Angry People (31%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Pest Control Workers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Bookkeeping skills
Pest control workers must keep accurate records of the hours they work, chemicals they use, and payments they collect. Self-employed workers, in particular, need these skills in order to run their business.
Customer-service skills
Pest control workers should be friendly and polite when they interact with customers at their homes or businesses.
Detail oriented
Because pest control workers apply pesticides, they need to be able to follow instructions carefully in order to prevent harm to residents, pets, the environment, and themselves.
Physical stamina
Pest control workers may spend hours on their feet, often crouching, kneeling, and crawling. They also must be able to withstand uncomfortable conditions, such as heat when they climb into attics in the summertime and cold when they enter crawl spaces during winter.
Injury and Illness
About 258 pest control workers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 96% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All cuts, lacerations, punctures
Sprains, strains, tears
Soreness and pain
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by pest control workers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), pest control workers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
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 pest control workers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for pest control workers
A high school diploma or equivalent is typically the minimum qualification for most pest control jobs.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for pest control workers
Most states require pest control workers to be licensed. Licensure requirements vary by state, but workers usually must complete training and pass an exam. Some states have additional requirements, such as having a high school diploma or equivalent, completing an apprenticeship, and passing a background check. States may have additional requirements for applicators.
Education level of Pest Control Workers
Only 10% of pest control workers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by pest control workers
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 Pest Control Workers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most pest control workers? 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 pest control workers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where pest control workers 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 pest control workers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for pest control workers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which pest control workers 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 Pest Control Workers (ACS)
Employment
10% of Pest control workers 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 10% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 55% 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 pest control workers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Pest control workers and gender
With 4% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 89% of careers.
Gender of Pest control workers
Men (96%)
Women (4%)
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 salary for all full-time male workers in the
US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%.
The situation is a little better for pest control workers, with the
median salary for men 18%
higher than the median salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Pest control workers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Pest control workers.
Race/origin of pest control workers
White (80% )
Black (11% )
Other (4% )
Multiracial (2% )
Asian (1% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (1% )
American Indian (1% )
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.
