Janitor / Custodial Technician
Federal figures put this role between $28,640 and $50,270 a year, with a national median of $36,840.
What the job actually is.
Cleans and maintains commercial facilities on a route or a fixed site: restrooms, floors, trash and recycling, common areas, and periodic work such as stripping and refinishing or carpet extraction. In healthcare, food and industrial settings the work is governed by a written protocol.
What this role pays.
We have not closed enough commercial cleaning & facilities maintenance searches to publish a band of our own for this seat, so the figures above are the federal 10th to 90th percentile spread rather than a My Trade Talent band. They are national and not adjusted for experience or region.
The federal occupation for this role is Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (SOC 37-2011), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $36,840 , with the middle of the market between $28,640 and $50,270.
Where it pays most.
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 100 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $46,550 | 43,160 |
| Seattle | $46,490 | 26,820 |
| San Francisco | $44,180 | 29,930 |
| San Jose | $43,870 | 15,780 |
| New York | $42,840 | 183,030 |
| Bakersfield | $42,490 | 4,060 |
| Sacramento | $41,450 | 14,020 |
| Modesto | $41,230 | 2,670 |
| Baton Rouge | $28,690 | 5,300 |
| Little Rock | $29,660 | 4,990 |
| New Orleans | $30,020 | 6,070 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
Janitor / Custodial Technician vs Cleaning Supervisor.
This is the seat that does the work, and the federal data publishes it properly: janitors and cleaners, a national median of $36,840 and a tenth-to-ninetieth spread of $28,640 to $50,270. The supervisor is a different job rather than a senior version of this one - shift cover, staffing a building, walk-throughs, and being the person the property manager calls. What is hard in this trade is rarely finding cleaners; it is finding the person who keeps a crew turning up on nights and weekends.
Credentials that move an offer.
No single credential reliably moves an offer in this seat. Employers screen on demonstrated commercial experience instead, which makes the resume harder to read and the reference check worth more.
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What separates a strong candidate.
Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.
What to look for
- Knows the difference between cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting, and when each is required
- Has worked to a documented protocol - healthcare, food plant, or similar - not just a checklist
- Floor care experience stated specifically: stripping, refinishing, burnishing, extraction
Questions that find out
- What dwell time does your disinfectant need and what happens if you wipe it early? A strong answer Knows the dwell or contact time is on the label and differs by product and by organism, and that the surface has to stay visibly wet for it. Says what happens otherwise: the surface is cleaned but not disinfected, which looks identical and is not. Cleans first and disinfects second, because disinfectant on soil does very little. Can name the product they actually use and its time rather than a general answer.
- Walk me through stripping and refinishing a VCT corridor overnight. A strong answer Plans the night: signage and a route for anyone passing, furniture moved, edges and corners done by hand, stripper applied and given its dwell, machine-scrubbed, picked up and rinsed until the floor squeaks rather than once, and the floor properly dry before any finish. Then thin even coats with the right applicator, each one dry before the next, keeping the edges wet so there are no lap marks. Knows how many coats and how long before traffic.
- How do you clean a restroom so it stays acceptable for eight hours, not one? A strong answer Cleans the things that cause the smell and the complaints rather than the things that show: the floor edges and the base of the fixtures where urine collects, the underside and hinges, the dispensers filled so nobody improvises, and drains that are dry getting water. Works top down and dirty-last, with separate cloths or colour coding. Knows a restroom that smells an hour later was wiped, not cleaned.
- How do you work a floor plan so you are not backtracking? A strong answer Works a route the same way every night - furthest point back to the exit, top down within each space, dry work before wet - so nothing is walked over twice and nothing is missed. Carries what the route needs rather than returning to the closet. Knows their own timings per area and where the night runs long. Says a consistent route is also how a cover person can do the building without being shown round.
- What is your approach to entryway matting and the dirt that comes in on shoes? A strong answer Treats the entrance as where most of the building's soil is stopped or not: matting long enough to actually take several steps, vacuumed or extracted often because a full mat stops working, and lifted to clean underneath. Knows the soil that gets past the entrance is what wears the floor finish and fills the carpet. Raises matting that is too short or missing rather than working harder further inside.
- How do you handle equipment that breaks down mid-shift? A strong answer Checks the simple things first - the cord, the belt, a full bag or tank, a clogged hose - rather than declaring it broken, and knows what they are allowed to fix themselves. Reports it the same night with what happened rather than leaving it for the next person to discover. Re-plans the route around what they can still do and tells the supervisor what did not get done, instead of silently dropping a task.
- What do you do when you find something that should be reported? A strong answer Knows what falls into that category - a leak, a propped or unlocked door, damage, a safety hazard, something that looks like a break-in, a medical sharps find - and has a route to report it that night rather than in a logbook nobody reads. Secures or makes safe what they can without putting themselves at risk. Does not handle what they are not trained for, and does not keep it to themselves.
- How do you work in an occupied office without disrupting people? A strong answer Works around people rather than through them: quiet equipment near anyone working, waits or comes back rather than vacuuming under someone's feet, never moves or touches papers and personal items, and keeps the route clear. Greets people rather than working around them in silence. Knows that being unobtrusive and trusted is most of the job in an occupied space.
- How do you handle a biohazard or bodily fluid clean-up? A strong answer Treats it as a trained procedure, not a mop job: puts on the right protection, restricts the area, uses an absorbent and a disinfectant rated for it with its dwell time, disposes of everything as regulated waste rather than in the general bin, and cleans the area afterwards. Knows what they are trained and equipped for and when to call someone else. Reports it. Never handles sharps by hand.
- What is your approach to floor care on a schedule rather than on demand? A strong answer Knows the floor needs a cycle - daily dust mopping and spot work, periodic scrubbing and burnishing, a strip and refinish at an interval that suits the traffic - and that doing the small work keeps the big work rare. Can say what each floor type in their building needs. Says a floor that only gets attention when someone complains is a floor that gets stripped twice as often.
- How do you deal with a locked area you are supposed to service? A strong answer Reports it rather than skipping it quietly, notes it that night and follows up so it does not recur every week. Does not force a door, borrow a key, or let someone else let them in outside the agreed process. Knows which areas have their own access rules and why. Says the pattern matters: a room locked once is an event, a room locked every night is a contract conversation.
- What is your process for chemical dilution and labelling? A strong answer Dilutes to the label, using a dispenser or a measure rather than a glug, and knows stronger is not better and often damages the surface or leaves residue that attracts soil. Labels every secondary container with the product and the dilution. Keeps the safety data sheets accessible, does not mix chemicals, and knows which combinations are dangerous. Wears what the label requires.
- How do you handle a complaint from an occupant directly? A strong answer Listens rather than defending, fixes it on the spot if it is fixable, and tells the supervisor either way so it is recorded and the cause can be dealt with. Does not argue about whether it is in scope in front of the person. Follows up so they know it was dealt with. Knows a complaint handled well in the corridor rarely becomes an email to the account manager.
- What is your approach to a building with inconsistent waste separation? A strong answer Keeps the streams separate on their side regardless, because one contaminated bin can send a whole load to landfill. Reports what they are seeing rather than quietly combining it, since the fix is usually signage, bin placement or the occupants rather than the cleaner. Knows what their building is supposed to separate and where each stream goes. Does not make the problem invisible by sorting it out silently every night.
- How do you work safely alone at night? A strong answer Has a check-in arrangement and uses it, keeps a phone charged and on them, knows the building's exits and where the lights and alarms are, and keeps the doors they came through secure behind them. Does not confront anyone they find in the building and knows who to call. Watches for the ordinary risks too - wet floors, ladders, lifting alone - because there is nobody there to help.
- What do you do when you cannot complete the full scope in the time available? A strong answer Prioritises on what the client sees and what matters for health - restrooms, entrances, touch points, waste - and drops the lower-frequency work deliberately rather than rushing everything badly. Tells the supervisor the same night what was left, instead of signing off a full scope. Says if it happens every night, the building is understaffed or the scope is wrong, and that is a conversation rather than something to absorb.
The mistake this seat invites
Treating the seat as unskilled and hiring purely on availability. Turnover costs more than the wage difference, and protocol-trained cleaners are a different labour market.
Where the role goes next
Cleaners move to lead, supervisor and then area manager; floor care and healthcare protocol experience accelerate it. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.
Interview kit for this role
- All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
- Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
- The Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
- Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.
What the search actually takes.
We have not closed a commercial cleaning & facilities maintenance search in 2026 year to date, so we publish no timing figure of our own for this seat rather than borrow one. The Hiring Index shows the trades where we do.
Keep reading.
- 2026 Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.
