Commercial Cleaning & FM recruiters serving Columbus.
About 14,130 janitors and cleaners work in the Columbus metro, at a $37,310 median. BLS counts 478 business locations of janitorial and commercial cleaning companies across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff, the state licensing rules that apply and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in Columbus.
BLS counts about 15,300 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Columbus metro, the largest group being janitors and cleaners (about 14,130). Relative to the size of the local economy, janitors and cleaners are less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.90). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Commercial Cleaning & FM hub.
Cleaning Team Member / Janitor
Columbus: 14,130 employed · $37,310 median, 33rd-highest of 112 metros
Cleaning Team Lead / Supervisor
Columbus: 1,170 employed · $47,670 median, 58th-highest of 111 metros
Site Manager / Account Manager
Columbus: 1,930 employed · $104,050 median, 69th-highest of 110 metros
Regional Operations Manager
Columbus: 29,070 employed · $102,590 median, 58th-highest of 112 metros
Facilities Manager
Columbus: 1,290 employed · $98,290 median, 85th-highest of 112 metros
Facilities Coordinator
Columbus: 9,570 employed · $47,870 median, 39th-highest of 111 metros
Building Engineer
Columbus: 5,420 employed · $82,360 median, 36th-highest of 112 metros
Healthcare Cleaning Specialist
Data Center / Cleanroom Cleaner
VP of Operations
Columbus: 1,160 employed · $162,910 median, 90th-highest of 98 metros
What Commercial Cleaning & FM roles earn in Columbus.
Janitors and cleaners in Columbus earn a median $37,310, level with the $36,840 national figure, and 33rd of 112 metros. Pay runs $29,340 at the tenth percentile to $49,360 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is first-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers, at $47,670 against $49,100 nationally.
| Role | Columbus median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleaning Team Member / Janitor · Healthcare Cleaning Specialist · Data Center / Cleanroom CleanerJanitors and Cleaners (37-2011) | $37,310 | $29,340–$49,360 | $36,840 | +1% | 14,130 |
| Cleaning Team Lead / SupervisorFirst-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers (37-1011) | $47,670 | $35,760–$67,470 | $49,100 | −3% | 1,170 |
| Site Manager / Account ManagerAdministrative Services Managers (11-3012) | $104,050 | $64,240–$187,480 | $114,130 | −9% | 1,930 |
| Regional Operations ManagerGeneral and Operations Managers (11-1021) | $102,590 | $50,440–$221,270 | $105,770 | −3% | 29,070 |
| Facilities ManagerFacilities Managers (11-3013) | $98,290 | $56,290–$149,830 | $106,660 | −8% | 1,290 |
| Facilities CoordinatorSecretaries and Administrative Assistants (43-6014) | $47,870 | $34,040–$63,190 | $47,540 | +1% | 9,570 |
| Building EngineerFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $82,360 | $61,010–$113,610 | $79,920 | +3% | 5,420 |
| VP of OperationsChief Executives (11-1011) | $162,910 | $90,330–$433,150 | $213,990 | −24% | 1,160 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Columbus metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Columbus's commercial cleaning & FM market has changed since 2018.
The number of janitorial and commercial cleaning companies in Columbus rose from 439 in 2018 to 478 in 2023, up 9%, behind the 14% growth nationally.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janitorial and commercial cleaning companies: business locations | 439 | 478 | +9% |
| Janitorial and commercial cleaning companies: employment | – | 7,688 | – |
| Janitorial and commercial cleaning companies: average annual pay | – | $29,009 | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free Commercial Cleaning & FM hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to Commercial Cleaning & FM · 2026 Commercial Cleaning & FM Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for Commercial Cleaning & FM
Columbus runs 10% fewer commercial cleaning workers per job than the country as a whole — below the national concentration. Fewer per job means the people you want are already working, and usually for someone who would rather keep them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Janitors and Building Cleaners. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Columbus's commercial cleaning market compares
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Columbus ranks 31st for headcount, 30th for median pay and 66th for concentration for janitors and building cleaners.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | 14,130 | $37,310 | 0.90 | 478 |
| Cincinnati | 13,560 | $36,030 | 0.87 | 579 |
| Cleveland | 13,380 | $36,230 | 0.91 | 518 |
| Dayton | 5,040 | $35,910 | 0.95 | 203 |
| Akron | 4,140 | $35,580 | 0.91 | 183 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial cleaning employers in Columbus, the local pool is thin but growing. Expect a mix of local candidates and people recruited in from nearby metros, and budget for relocation on senior roles.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Columbus metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Commercial Cleaning & FM licensing in Ohio.
Ohio does not license cleaning contractors, but it does require both a pesticide business licence and a licensed commercial applicator for disinfection work done for hire, and the statute is unusually explicit. R.C. 921.01(KK) defines pesticide business activities to include the application of pesticides to the property of another for hire, 921.09(A)(1) provides that no person shall own or operate a pesticide business without a licence from the director of agriculture, and 921.06(A)(1)(a) requires a commercial applicator licence to apply pesticides for a pesticide business without direct supervision - none of it limited to restricted-use products. Disinfectants are inside the definitions, because 921.01(HH) makes bacteria and viruses pests except on or in living animals including human beings. There is no antimicrobial category, so the fitting one is OAC 901:5-11-01(P)(10)(a), general pest control within the domestic, institutional, structural and health-related category. The same state rules apply in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Akron, so candidates licensed there can work in Columbus without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: Ohio Department of Agriculture, Pesticide and Fertilizer Regulation Section. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Columbus talent.
The closest metro we cover is Dayton, about 65 miles away, with roughly 5,040 janitors and cleaners (0.4 times Columbus's 14,130). Columbus pays more than every metro we cover within reach ($37,310 median), which helps when recruiting people in from Akron at $35,580.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | – | 14,130 | $37,310 |
| Dayton | 65 mi | 5,040 | $35,910 |
| Cincinnati | 99 mi | 13,560 | $36,030 |
| Akron | 110 mi | 4,140 | $35,580 |
| Cleveland | 126 mi | 13,380 | $36,230 |
| Pittsburgh | 162 mi | 16,140 | $36,500 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Columbus crews.
Not commercial cleaning & FM work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Columbus in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Nationwide Children's Hospital expansionLargest capital investment in the hospital's historyMulti-year, phased
Hospital-grade mechanical, medical gas plumbing, and ICRA-compliant construction - steady healthcare-sector demand alongside the industrial boom.
- Intel Ohio One semiconductor fab$28BUnder construction, multi-year buildout
New Albany chip fab campus - crews have logged 6.4M+ work hours, poured 200,000+ cubic yards of concrete, and installed sub-utility trenches. The single largest private capital project in Ohio history and the anchor of the region's industrial-trades demand.
- Meta "Prometheus" data centerMulti-billion, undisclosedCompleting construction in 2026
New Albany campus that will be the world's first data center requiring over 1 gigawatt of power. Massive electrical distribution and mechanical cooling scope, concentrated in a single build.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The Columbus market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for commercial cleaning & FM, and what kills offers in Columbus.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 5 things that most often end a commercial cleaning & FM offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: Commercial Cleaning & FM credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Frequently asked - Commercial Cleaning & FM hiring in Columbus.
What do janitors and cleaners earn in Columbus?
BLS puts the Columbus median for janitors and cleaners at $37,310 a year, about the same as the $36,840 national median. That ranks 33rd of 112 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Most of the market sits between $29,340 and $49,360, a 1.7x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. No other Ohio metro we cover pays more for this work.
Is it hard to hire janitors and cleaners in Columbus?
It is about average. Janitors and cleaners are as common in Columbus as they are nationally (location quotient 0.90), with about 14,130 in the metro. The 478 janitorial and commercial cleaning companies here average about 16 employees per location.
Which commercial cleaning & FM roles pay the most in Columbus?
Of the roles we recruit for, VP of Operations pays the most in Columbus, a $162,910 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Cleaning Team Lead / Supervisor at $47,670, 71% below it. Cleaning Team Member / Janitor is the lowest-paid field role at $37,310. Relative to national pay, Building Engineer is the strongest-paying role here (3% above). VP of Operations trails national pay the most (24% below).
How many janitorial and commercial cleaning companies operate in Columbus?
BLS counted 478 janitorial and commercial cleaning companies in Columbus in 2023, employing about 7,688 people between them. Up from 439 in 2018, a 9% increase against 14% growth nationally. That averages 16 people per location. They pay an average of $29,009, 10% below the $32,388 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Columbus for janitors and cleaners?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Dayton (65 miles, about 5,040, $35,910 median), Cincinnati (99 miles, about 13,560, $36,030 median) and Akron (110 miles, about 4,140, $35,580 median).
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
478 janitorial and commercial cleaning companies in Columbus are drawing on the same 14,130 janitors and cleaners. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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