OFFICE BLUES

SALARY DATA — SOC 37-2012

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners

37-0000 Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations

$36k
annual median wage
mean $37k
-30% vs. all-occ national median
1.76×
90/10 ratio
Narrow band

The 90/10 ratio for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is 1.76× — this is a compressed-comp occupation where the wage band is narrow. Top decile earns $48,570, bottom decile $27,640. In flat-comp professions, title and tenure define the ceiling more than negotiation does. Push title, not pay.

BLS OEWS reference period: May 2025. Employment: 860,670.

Wage distribution — the receipts

National OEWS annual wage percentiles. "vs. median" column shows each percentile relative to the occupation's own national median — this is where your position in the band lives. Source and series IDs: methodology page.

Percentile Annual wage vs. median Hourly (est.)
10th pct — bottom decile $27,640 -22% ~$13
25th pct — lower quartile $30,350 -15% ~$15
Median — 50th pct $35,510 — $17.07/hr
Mean — average $37,080 +4% $17.83/hr
75th pct — upper quartile $39,590 +11% ~$19
90th pct — top decile $48,570 +37% ~$23

Source: BLS OEWS national estimates. Annual wage ÷ 2,080 hrs = hourly estimate. Hourly-median is direct from OEWS when available; others are estimates only.

Pay by metro area

BLS publishes May 2025 wage estimates for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in 392 metro areas; the 10 with the most jobs are below, ranked by employment.

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners: employment and annual wage percentiles in the largest metro areas
Metro Jobs Median 10th pct 90th pct
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 40,030 $44,010 $35,220 $82,540
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 34,440 $43,530 $35,970 $60,480
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 22,370 $34,360 $28,990 $42,290
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV 20,800 $48,140 $31,200 $56,570
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 18,260 $37,310 $34,450 $51,750
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 17,810 $35,150 $29,490 $46,580
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 17,480 $31,670 $23,790 $38,940
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 15,860 $37,840 $33,590 $48,490
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 14,250 $36,160 $34,360 $44,510
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 12,990 $46,590 $39,240 $74,500

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 — metropolitan area estimates (oesm25ma/MSA_M2025_dl.xlsx). Jobs are rounded to the nearest ten and exclude the self-employed; a dash means BLS suppressed that percentile.

Pay by industry

Across 74 detailed industries with a publishable estimate, the 5 that employ the most Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners are below, with the median wage each one pays.

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners: employment and median annual wage by 4-digit NAICS industry
Industry NAICS Jobs Median
Traveler Accommodation 721100 415,160 $34,920
Services to Buildings and Dwellings 561700 92,440 $35,630
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 622100 80,780 $38,890
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) 623100 68,940 $33,360
Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly 623300 51,060 $35,430

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 — national 4-digit NAICS industry estimates (oesm25in4/nat4d_M2025_dl.xlsx), all ownerships combined. Industries where BLS suppresses the wage are omitted rather than shown as zero.

What it pays vs. what it buys

The wage is only half the number. Below, the metro median for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is divided by that metro's BEA Regional Price Parity — the federal measure of what a dollar actually buys there. Nominal is what the job pays. Real is what it buys at local prices. Which reorders the answer: Miami ranks #28 of 50 on the paycheck and #45 once you spend it.

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners: metro median wage, cost-of-living adjusted, ranked by real wage
Metro Nominal Prices Real Rank shift
Las Vegas $48,140 98.7 $48,752 —
San Francisco $46,590 106.2 $43,876 —
San Diego $42,150 99.6 $42,310 +3
Seattle $44,900 111.1 $40,402 -1
Denver $38,900 99.4 $39,148 +5
New York $44,010 112.6 $39,098 -2
Portland $39,000 100.1 $38,957 +2
Riverside $39,200 101.3 $38,710 —
Sacramento $38,730 100.3 $38,626 +2
Los Angeles $43,530 113.6 $38,330 -5

Top 10 of 50 metros by real wage. Rank shift = places gained or lost against the nominal ranking. Cleveland gains 11 places. Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 metropolitan estimates; BEA Regional Price Parities (national = 100). Metros where BLS suppresses the estimate are omitted rather than shown as zero. Full data at /salaries-metro.json.

Is this job growing or dying?

BLS projects employment in Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners to move from 1,332,100 to 1,339,500 over 2025–2035 — +0.6% , with about 175,500 openings a year once retirements and career changes are counted . Typical entry requirement: no formal educational credential.

Source: BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 (2025–2035). Openings count growth and replacement need together, which is why a shrinking occupation can still hire. Full data at /employment-projections.json.

Salary FAQ

What is the median salary for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners?
The median annual salary for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is $35,510, and the mean is $37,080 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025).
What is the salary range for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners?
Most Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners earn between $27,640 and $48,570 a year. The wage gap inside the occupation is a 1.76× ratio — workers at the 90th percentile earn 1.76 times those at the 10th (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Where does pay for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners fall the most after adjusting for cost of living?
Local prices reorder the ranking. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL ranks #28 by nominal pay but #45 of 50 metros once local prices are applied (BEA Regional Price Parities).
Is employment for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners growing or shrinking?
BLS projects Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners employment to grow 0.6% over the 2025–2035 window, with about 175,500 openings a year once retirements and career changes are counted (BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035).
How many Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners jobs are there in the US?
BLS counts about 860,670 workers in Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Figures from this page's OEWS / Employment Projections / BEA data, above. Methodology at /methodology#oews-salaries.

Related occupations

Other Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations whose national median wage is closest to that of Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners: same SOC major group, nearest median first.

The national wage distribution and the metro and industry tables above are BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (SOC 37-2012): percentiles from the OEWS API series, metro and industry rows from the published bulk tables — how they are fetched, what OEWS leaves out (equity, bonuses, benefits) and how the 90/10 ratio is read are documented at /methodology#oews-salaries and #oews-breakdown. The other sections keep their own sources and periods: the cost-adjusted metro table divides OEWS metro medians by BEA Regional Price Parities (/methodology#burnout-index); the outlook and its FAQ entry are BLS Employment Projections for 2025–2035.

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