What Does it Take to Be a Janitor?

Job Description: Keep buildings in clean and orderly condition. Perform heavy cleaning duties, such as cleaning floors, shampooing rugs, washing walls and glass, and removing rubbish. Duties may include tending furnace and boiler, performing routine maintenance activities, notifying management of need for repairs, and cleaning snow or debris from sidewalk.

Life as a Janitor: What Do They Do?

• Clean chimneys, flues, and connecting pipes, using power or hand tools.
• Monitor building security and safety by performing tasks such as locking doors after operating hours or checking electrical appliance use to ensure that hazards are not created.
• Service, clean, or supply restrooms.
• Mow or trim lawns or shrubbery, using mowers or hand or power trimmers, and clear debris from grounds.
• Make adjustments or minor repairs to heating, cooling, ventilating, plumbing, or electrical systems.
• Dust furniture, walls, machines, or equipment.

Things a Janitor Should Know How to Do

Below is a list of the skills most Janitors say are important on the job.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Related Job Titles

• Dry House Attendant
• Scrub Woman
• Industrial Plant Custodian
• Coach Cleaner
• Building Maintenance Superintendent

Janitor Employment Estimates

There were about 2,384,600 jobs for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in 2016 (in the United States).

New jobs are being produced at a rate of 9.9% which is lower than average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 236,500 new jobs for Janitors by 2026. The BLS estimates 344,100 yearly job openings in this field per year.

The states with the most job growth for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners are Texas, New York, and Florida.

Watch out if you plan on working in Vermont, Alaska, or Wyoming. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Average Janitor Salary

The average yearly salary of a Janitor ranges between $19,060 and $43,340. A Janitor median salary is $26,110.

Below is a list of the median annual salaries for jobs of this type in different U.S. states.

Annual Mean Salary by State

State	Annual Mean Salary
Massachusetts	$35,560
Washington	$35,220
New York	$35,080
Connecticut	$34,360
Alaska	$34,130
California	$33,570
District of Columbia	$32,260
New Jersey	$31,700
Minnesota	$31,680
Hawaii	$31,350
Vermont	$31,280
Rhode Island	$31,000
North Dakota	$30,740
Illinois	$30,410
Nevada	$30,380
Maine	$29,940
Oregon	$29,860
Montana	$29,790
New Hampshire	$29,420
Wyoming	$29,340
Colorado	$28,980
Pennsylvania	$28,730
Delaware	$28,530
Maryland	$28,370
Wisconsin	$28,200
Iowa	$28,030
Ohio	$27,930
Missouri	$27,470
Nebraska	$27,350
Michigan	$27,230
Indiana	$26,900
Arizona	$26,410
Virginia	$26,340
West Virginia	$26,000
Kentucky	$25,940
South Dakota	$25,900
Kansas	$25,900
Idaho	$25,770
Florida	$25,450
Utah	$25,270
Texas	$24,870
Tennessee	$24,430
New Mexico	$24,320
North Carolina	$24,190
Georgia	$24,180
Alabama	$23,700
Oklahoma	$23,670
Arkansas	$23,520
South Carolina	$23,370
Mississippi	$22,120
Louisiana	$22,030

What Tools do Janitors Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Janitors may use on a daily basis:

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Excel

How to Become a Janitor

Are there Janitor education requirements?

How Long Does it Take to Become Janitor?

Where do Janitors Work?

Other Jobs You May be Interested In

Those who work as Janitors sometimes switch careers to one of these choices:

• Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
• Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics

College Factual

O*NET Online

Image Credit: Via Wikimedia Commons