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The differences between maintenance people and custodians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a maintenance person has an average salary of $33,656, which is higher than the $30,176 average annual salary of a custodian.
The top three skills for a maintenance person include cleanliness, HVAC and delivery truck. The most important skills for a custodian are cleanliness, work ethic, and customer service.
| Maintenance Person | Custodian | |
| Yearly salary | $33,656 | $30,176 |
| Hourly rate | $16.18 | $14.51 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 122,946 | 47,364 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 46% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| Average age | 47 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
The duties of a maintenance person depend on one's line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting regular inspections within an establishment, performing necessary repairs and corrective measures on wirings or machines, installing devices, and responding to any inquiries or concerns. Moreover, there are also instances where they have to clean their work areas, organize their tools and equipment, and diagnose issues. Should there be any problems, it is essential to report to the manager or supervisor right away.
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.
Maintenance people and custodians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Maintenance Person | Custodian | |
| Average salary | $33,656 | $30,176 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $44,000 | Between $23,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Jose, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | IDEX | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Education |
There are a few differences between a maintenance person and a custodian in terms of educational background:
| Maintenance Person | Custodian | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 46% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between maintenance people' and custodians' demographics:
| Maintenance Person | Custodian | |
| Average age | 47 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.3% Female, 5.7% | Male, 64.4% Female, 35.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 4.6% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 5% |