Building custodian vs janitorial maintenance worker

The differences between building custodians and janitorial maintenance workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a building custodian has an average salary of $28,125, which is higher than the $24,698 average annual salary of a janitorial maintenance worker.

The top three skills for a building custodian include GRASS, building floors and ladders. The most important skills for a janitorial maintenance worker are cleanliness, HVAC, and light fixtures.

Building custodian vs janitorial maintenance worker overview

	Building Custodian	Janitorial Maintenance Worker
Yearly salary	$28,125	$24,698
Hourly rate	$13.52	$11.87
Growth rate	4%	14%
Number of jobs	36,128	103,876
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	High School Diploma, 55%
Average age	49	47
Years of experience	-	4

Building custodian vs janitorial maintenance worker salary

Building custodians and janitorial maintenance workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Building Custodian	Janitorial Maintenance Worker
Average salary	$28,125	$24,698
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $36,000	Between $19,000 And $31,000
Highest paying City	Lawrence, MA	Bellevue, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Maine
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Brunswick
Best paying industry	Government	Retail

Differences between building custodian and janitorial maintenance worker education

There are a few differences between a building custodian and a janitorial maintenance worker in terms of educational background:

	Building Custodian	Janitorial Maintenance Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	High School Diploma, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Building custodian vs janitorial maintenance worker demographics

Here are the differences between building custodians' and janitorial maintenance workers' demographics:

	Building Custodian	Janitorial Maintenance Worker
Average age	49	47
Gender ratio	Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1%	Male, 82.2% Female, 17.8%
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, 11.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 2.6% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between building custodian and janitorial maintenance worker 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.

Janitorial maintenance worker example responsibilities.

Assist with light building repairs, maintain building cleanliness, strip and wax floors, order and manage supplies.
Perform minor maintenance including plumbing and electrical.
Climb ladders and lift heavy loads during set-up for events.
power wash parking lot, clean fryers, clean bathrooms.
Perform various landscaping duties such as mowing grass and pruning trees.
Sanitize the available facilities at the restroom; basins, urinals, and toilets.

Building custodian vs janitorial maintenance worker skills

Common building custodian skills

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

Common janitorial maintenance worker skills

Cleanliness, 26%
HVAC, 21%
Light Fixtures, 16%
OSHA, 4%
Plumbing, 4%
Building Floors, 3%

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Building and Grounds Maintenance Industry
Building Custodian
Building Custodian vs Janitorial Maintenance Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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