Janitor vs housekeeping cleaner

The differences between janitors and housekeeping cleaners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a janitor has an average salary of $27,954, which is higher than the $25,439 average annual salary of a housekeeping cleaner.

The top three skills for a janitor include building floors, cleanliness and patients. The most important skills for a housekeeping cleaner are light fixtures, guest rooms, and cleanliness.

Janitor vs housekeeping cleaner overview

	Janitor	Housekeeping Cleaner
Yearly salary	$27,954	$25,439
Hourly rate	$13.44	$12.23
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	57,146	101,232
Job satisfaction	3.67	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 56%	High School Diploma, 55%
Average age	49	48
Years of experience	-	-

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.

What does a housekeeping cleaner do?

A housekeeping cleaner is an individual who provides general cleaning services. Your tasks may vary but typically include vacuuming, dusting, mopping floors, and cleaning bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Other tasks that you will perform include changing towels and sheets, emptying bins and taking waste to disposal areas, and replenishing supplies such as toilet paper and soap. In addition, you will be responsible for cleaning windows, woodwork, and walls and lifting and moving lightweight equipment and objects. You will also be tasked to clean and maintain hallways.

Janitor vs housekeeping cleaner salary

Janitors and housekeeping cleaners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Janitor	Housekeeping Cleaner
Average salary	$27,954	$25,439
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $35,000	Between $18,000 And $34,000
Highest paying City	Lexington, MA	Dedham, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Argonne National Laboratory	McCabe
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Health Care

Differences between janitor and housekeeping cleaner education

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

	Janitor	Housekeeping Cleaner
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 56%	High School Diploma, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Janitor vs housekeeping cleaner demographics

Here are the differences between janitors' and housekeeping cleaners' demographics:

	Janitor	Housekeeping Cleaner
Average age	49	48
Gender ratio	Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9%	Male, 20.7% Female, 79.3%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	5%	4%

Differences between janitor and housekeeping cleaner duties and responsibilities

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.

Housekeeping cleaner example responsibilities.

Train and manage several maids and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Maintain high standards of cleanliness with bakery machinery/equipment to detail outside of machinery as well as deep clean inside machinery/equipment.
Run errands such as taking laundry to the cleaners and buying groceries.

Janitor vs housekeeping cleaner skills

Common janitor skills

Building Floors, 12%
Cleanliness, 12%
Patients, 9%
Window Sills, 6%
Commercial Cleaning, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

Common housekeeping cleaner skills

Light Fixtures, 19%
Guest Rooms, 17%
Cleanliness, 10%
Window Sills, 9%
Patient Rooms, 5%
Laundry Room, 5%

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Janitor vs Housekeeping Cleaner

Updated January 8, 2025

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