How To Become A Drain Cleaner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a drain cleaner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a drain cleaner. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.07 an hour? That's $37,578 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDrain CleanerUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,578

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.92%

Asian 3.71%

Black or African American 11.94%

Hispanic or Latino 13.51%

Unknown 5.06%

White 64.86%

Gender

female 4.05%

male 95.95%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a drain cleaner

Explore drain cleaner education requirements

Most common drain cleaner degrees

High School Diploma

59.1 %

Diploma

13.6 %

Associate

13.6 %

Start to develop specific drain cleaner skills

Skills	Percentages
Sewer Lines	52.20%
Plumbing	25.85%
Customer Service	12.42%
Service Calls	3.61%
Commercial Buildings	2.95%

Complete relevant drain cleaner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New drain cleaners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a drain cleaner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real drain cleaner resumes.

Research drain cleaner duties and responsibilities

Perform basic plumbing services as needed.
Clear blockages in plumbing systems utilizing a roto-rooter.
Operate backhoes to dig up lines and replace.

Prepare your drain cleaner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your drain cleaner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a drain cleaner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable drain cleaner resume templates

Build a professional drain cleaner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your drain cleaner resume.