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

What is a duct 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 duct cleaner. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.2 an hour? That's $31,620 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 85,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDuct CleanerUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,620

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.31%

Asian 4.92%

Black or African American 10.19%

Hispanic or Latino 23.22%

Unknown 4.11%

White 56.26%

Gender

female 2.82%

male 97.18%

Age - 51

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 - 51

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.1

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a duct cleaner

Explore duct cleaner education requirements

Most common duct cleaner degrees

High School Diploma

54.7 %

Associate

14.3 %

Diploma

14.3 %

Start to develop specific duct cleaner skills

Skills	Percentages
Duct Systems	32.17%
HVAC	27.55%
Air Ducts	20.78%
Customer Service	10.83%
Commercial Buildings	2.51%

Complete relevant duct cleaner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New duct 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 duct cleaner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real duct cleaner resumes.

Research duct cleaner duties and responsibilities

Clean HVAC systems and duct work in residential homes as well as commercial buildings.
Work within the guidelines set forth by Amtrak, OSHA, and the environmental management system.
Maintain cleanliness of Amtrak's passenger trains.
Use blue signal protection and knowledge of FRA to work safely.

Prepare your duct cleaner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your duct 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 duct 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 duct cleaner resume templates

Build a professional duct 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 duct cleaner resume.