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The differences between sanitation workers and janitors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sanitation worker has an average salary of $33,159, which is higher than the $27,954 average annual salary of a janitor.
The top three skills for a sanitation worker include cleanliness, pallet jack and food safety. The most important skills for a janitor are building floors, cleanliness, and patients.
| Sanitation Worker | Janitor | |
| Yearly salary | $33,159 | $27,954 |
| Hourly rate | $15.94 | $13.44 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 27,943 | 57,146 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.67 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 61% | High School Diploma, 56% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A sanitation worker is employed to carry out valuable community tasks like garbage collection, hauling, and disposal. Sanitation workers take responsibility for the cleanliness and maintenance of the community. They ride or drive garbage trucks to collect trash from businesses and residents every day. They may work within companies as well following their respective corporate policies. One can become a sanitation worker if they have a college degree, high school degree, or any relevant job experience.
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.
Sanitation workers and janitors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sanitation Worker | Janitor | |
| Average salary | $33,159 | $27,954 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $41,000 | Between $21,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | Lexington, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Michigan State University | Argonne National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Government | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a sanitation worker and a janitor in terms of educational background:
| Sanitation Worker | Janitor | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 61% | High School Diploma, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between sanitation workers' and janitors' demographics:
| Sanitation Worker | Janitor | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 82.1% Female, 17.9% | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 4.9% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% | 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 Percentage | 5% | 5% |