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The differences between custodians and day porters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a custodian has an average salary of $30,176, which is higher than the $28,820 average annual salary of a day porter.
The top three skills for a custodian include cleanliness, work ethic and customer service. The most important skills for a day porter are commercial cleaning, customer service, and work ethic.
| Custodian | Day Porter | |
| Yearly salary | $30,176 | $28,820 |
| Hourly rate | $14.51 | $13.86 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 47,364 | 84,003 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 52% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A custodian, also referred to as janitor, is responsible for maintaining cleanliness and helping protect all facilities. Custodians make sure everything is clean, neat, in order, and free from clutter and safe. They perform routine maintenance tasks and heavy cleaning duties. They do everyday things to sweep floors, mop, scrub, vacuum, collect and empty trash, dust furniture, walls, and equipment. They mix solutions and chemicals in containers based on proportions for disinfecting windows, mirrors, and other partitions requiring cleaning. Some also do minor building maintenance and light repairs, while others are exposed to biohazardous materials.
Day porters are skilled employees who are responsible for conducting daily building maintenance at a facility to ensure it looks neat and presentable to the public. These porters are required to clean all common room areas such as the kitchen, cafeteria, and lobby as well as prepare conference rooms before and after meetings. They must complete minor repairs and place safety hazard signs in the building to warn customers and employees. Day porters must also provide service washrooms while responding to major spills or other cleaning crises.
Custodians and day porters have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Custodian | Day Porter | |
| Average salary | $30,176 | $28,820 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $39,000 | Between $22,000 And $36,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | Northwest Center |
| Best paying industry | Education | Utilities |
There are a few differences between a custodian and a day porter in terms of educational background:
| Custodian | Day Porter | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between custodians' and day porters' demographics:
| Custodian | Day Porter | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.4% Female, 35.6% | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 24.1% Asian, 5.0% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 28.5% Asian, 5.3% White, 51.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |