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Housekeeper vs janitor

The differences between housekeepers and janitors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a housekeeper has an average salary of $29,306, which is higher than the $27,954 average annual salary of a janitor.

The top three skills for a housekeeper include customer service, cleanliness and patients. The most important skills for a janitor are building floors, cleanliness, and patients.

Housekeeper vs janitor overview

HousekeeperJanitor
Yearly salary$29,306$27,954
Hourly rate$14.09$13.44
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs111,50157,146
Job satisfaction53.67
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 53%High School Diploma, 56%
Average age4849
Years of experience--

What does a housekeeper do?

Housekeepers are responsible for taking care of their employers' houses. They are usually tasked to do work related to cleaning. Their primary responsibilities include sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping floors, managing recycling, taking out the trash, dusting surfaces, cleaning the bathroom, among others. They are also responsible for doing laundry, folding clothes, and storing clothes in cabinets. They may also be given additional responsibilities such as shopping for groceries, managing and stocking the pantry, cooking, walking pets and watering the plants. Housekeepers should be responsible, trustworthy, and knowledgeable on housework.

What does a janitor do?

Janitors are primarily responsible for maintaining the sanitation and cleanliness of the workspace. They are in charge of sweeping and mopping floors, wiping surfaces, and ensuring that the area they are assigned to is properly sanitized. They manage the inventory of supplies and ensure that they would never run out of cleaning supplies by properly tracking the usage of each material. Some skilled janitors are also responsible for doing minor repairs to different office equipment and fixtures. They also help in company event setups and cleanups, as well as in liaising tasks that the office might need.

Housekeeper vs janitor salary

Housekeepers and janitors have different pay scales, as shown below.

HousekeeperJanitor
Average salary$29,306$27,954
Salary rangeBetween $22,000 And $38,000Between $21,000 And $35,000
Highest paying CityDallas, TXLexington, MA
Highest paying stateAlaskaMassachusetts
Best paying companyMcMenamins Pubs & BreweriesArgonne National Laboratory
Best paying industryTelecommunicationHospitality

Differences between housekeeper and janitor education

There are a few differences between a housekeeper and a janitor in terms of educational background:

HousekeeperJanitor
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 53%High School Diploma, 56%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college--

Housekeeper vs janitor demographics

Here are the differences between housekeepers' and janitors' demographics:

HousekeeperJanitor
Average age4849
Gender ratioMale, 15.4% Female, 84.6%Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 4.4% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage4%5%

Differences between housekeeper and janitor duties and responsibilities

Housekeeper example responsibilities.

  • Train and manage several maids and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
  • Demonstrate compassion and customer service to patients.
  • Remove smudges from vertical surfaces such as doors, door frames, light switches, partitions.
  • Used rags, vacuum, dusters, sponges, and scrapers.
  • Utilize good math skills while multitasking.
  • Like fixing there shoes, fixing the kids stuff animals.
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Janitor example responsibilities.

  • Clean private residents entire home, floors, windows, using soapy water and other cleaners, sponges, and squeegees.
  • Use of floor extractors machine to strip, scrub, wax, and buff floors.
  • Wash windows and mirrors, tables and counter tops using window cleaner and cloths or paper, sponges, squeegees.
  • Organize supplies such as broom, mop, sponges, cleaning supplies, etc.
  • Used solvent, such as carbon dioxide, rags, brushes, pads, and sponges.
  • Dust and vacuums shred rooms and personal cubicle areas.
  • Show more

Housekeeper vs janitor skills

Common housekeeper skills
  • Customer Service, 25%
  • Cleanliness, 14%
  • Patients, 9%
  • Guest Rooms, 6%
  • Good Judgment, 4%
  • OSHA, 3%
Common janitor skills
  • Building Floors, 12%
  • Cleanliness, 12%
  • Patients, 9%
  • Window Sills, 6%
  • Commercial Cleaning, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%

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