Janitors and building cleaners: how women's and men's pay compare
Among full-time, year-round janitors and building cleaners in the United States, women had a median of $31,792 in 2024 and men had $41,070. Women's median was 77.4% of men's (margin of error ±0.9%). The $9,278 difference is larger than its margin of error (±$404), so it is statistically distinguishable from zero at the 90% level the Census Bureau uses. That is a wider ratio than the 83.1% for all full-time, year-round workers ($55,678 vs $66,965, Census table B20017).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year, tables B24122/B24123/B24125/B24126. Full-time, year-round civilian workers 16+, 2024 dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-09. ± values are 90% margins of error.
Where this occupation sits
About 473,356 women and 1,087,748 men worked full-time, year-round in this occupation, so women were 30.3% of the group (±0.8%). That makes it a majority-men occupation, ranked #31 of 40 in this set by women's share.
Among the 40 large occupations in this set, it ranks #34 for the smallest gap (women's median as a share of men's; #1 is closest to equal), #36 for women's median earnings, and #23 for the largest dollar difference.
Occupations with a similar share of women
| Occupation | Women | Men | Women/men | Women's share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief executives | $151,010 | $191,756 | 78.8% | 30% |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing | $75,812 | $87,669 | 86.5% | 27% |
| Computer and information systems managers | $124,239 | $141,858 | 87.6% | 26% |
Occupations with a similar pay ratio
| Occupation | Women | Men | Women/men | Women's share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-line supervisors of retail sales workers | $46,973 | $61,158 | 76.8% | 42% |
| Chief executives | $151,010 | $191,756 | 78.8% | 30% |
| General and operations managers | $75,188 | $94,465 | 79.6% | 37% |
What this number does and doesn't tell you
- These are unadjusted medians for people who worked full-time, year-round. They do not control for hours beyond full-time, years of experience, seniority, employer, location, or the specific jobs inside the occupation group.
- A gap here is a description, not proof of discrimination, and the absence of a gap does not prove equal treatment. Estimates come from a sample survey, which is why every figure has a margin of error.
- The Census Bureau groups jobs into detailed occupations; "Janitors and building cleaners" is the Bureau's category and may combine jobs you think of as different.
- For a specific state, see the state pay-gap pages. To compare any two jobs, use the pay-gap lookup tool. For how we work with data, see our methodology.