Building custodian vs building manager

The differences between building custodians and building managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a building manager has an average salary of $66,595, which is higher than the $28,125 average annual salary of a building custodian.

The top three skills for a building custodian include GRASS, building floors and ladders. The most important skills for a building manager are building maintenance, emergency situations, and HVAC.

Building custodian vs building manager overview

	Building Custodian	Building Manager
Yearly salary	$28,125	$66,595
Hourly rate	$13.52	$32.02
Growth rate	4%	3%
Number of jobs	36,128	15,982
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	49	48
Years of experience	-	6

Building custodian vs building manager salary

Building custodians and building managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Building Custodian	Building Manager
Average salary	$28,125	$66,595
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $36,000	Between $37,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	Lawrence, MA	Cambridge, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Connecticut
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Apple
Best paying industry	Government	Real Estate

Differences between building custodian and building manager education

There are a few differences between a building custodian and a building manager in terms of educational background:

	Building Custodian	Building Manager
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	University of Southern California

Building custodian vs building manager demographics

Here are the differences between building custodians' and building managers' demographics:

	Building Custodian	Building Manager
Average age	49	48
Gender ratio	Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1%	Male, 65.9% Female, 34.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 22.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 5.3% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	5%	12%

Differences between building custodian and building manager duties and responsibilities

Building custodian example responsibilities.

Use of floor scrubbers and carpet machine.s.
Clean all bathrooms including fixtures, urinals, toilets, washbowls and wall tiles.
Sweep all floors, scrub interior and exterior surfaces including underside lips of commodes, urinals and wash basins.
Maintain a positive accountability for cleanliness for a secure government building.
Perform mechanical repairs and services to plumbing, electrical, mechanical systems and large rotating equipment including refrigeration systems.
Perform emergencies work requests, schedule and unschedule maintenance program, emergencies and coordinate special projects as directed.

Building manager example responsibilities.

Demonstrate leadership, accountability, and teamwork when managing the budget by empowering staff members to participate in controlling expenditures.
Supervise electrical, plumbing, mechanical and general carpentry works.
Perform renovation repairs including painting, plastering, electrical and plumbing repairs.
Maintain cleanliness of common spaces; including garbage/recycling removal and snow removal.
Provide first aid and CPR as required.
Offer basic first aid and CPR when need.

Building custodian vs building manager skills

Common building custodian skills

GRASS, 10%
Building Floors, 9%
Ladders, 6%
Light Fixtures, 6%
Cleanliness, 6%
Building Maintenance, 5%

Common building manager skills

Building Maintenance, 8%
Emergency Situations, 8%
HVAC, 7%
Quality Customer Service, 7%
Facilities Management, 5%
Emergency Procedures, 4%

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Building and Grounds Maintenance Industry
Building Custodian
Building Custodian vs Building Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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