Building custodian vs professional cleaner

The differences between building custodians and professional cleaners 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 $27,268 average annual salary of a professional cleaner.

The top three skills for a building custodian include GRASS, building floors and ladders. The most important skills for a professional cleaner are building floors, clean bathrooms, and clean windows.

Building custodian vs professional cleaner overview

	Building Custodian	Professional Cleaner
Yearly salary	$28,125	$27,268
Hourly rate	$13.52	$13.11
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	36,128	119,875
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	High School Diploma, 44%
Average age	49	49
Years of experience	-	-

Building custodian vs professional cleaner salary

Building custodians and professional cleaners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Building Custodian	Professional Cleaner
Average salary	$28,125	$27,268
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $36,000	Between $20,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	Lawrence, MA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Vacation
Best paying industry	Government	Manufacturing

Differences between building custodian and professional cleaner education

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

	Building Custodian	Professional Cleaner
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	High School Diploma, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Building custodian vs professional cleaner demographics

Here are the differences between building custodians' and professional cleaners' demographics:

	Building Custodian	Professional Cleaner
Average age	49	49
Gender ratio	Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1%	Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1%
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, 10.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 4.6% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between building custodian and professional cleaner 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.

Professional cleaner example responsibilities.

Supervise and train maids in their cleaning duties to ensure company standards of cleanliness are achieved.
Assist in cleaning restroom facilities including cleaning toilets, urinals, sinks, and mopping floors.
Execute commercial building following safety awareness to maintain cleanliness and neatness of working area and premises.
Sweep mop sanitize and disinfect surfaces dust buff floors clean restrooms basements clean out stoves and refrigerators etc

Building custodian vs professional cleaner skills

Common building custodian skills

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

Common professional cleaner skills

Building Floors, 25%
Clean Bathrooms, 16%
Clean Windows, 13%
Office Buildings, 9%
Light Fixtures, 6%
Commercial Cleaning, 4%

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Building and Grounds Maintenance Industry
Building Custodian
Building Custodian vs Professional Cleaner

Updated January 8, 2025

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