Janitor and Cleaner Career Assessment
Buildings do not run without you
Welcome
Janitors and cleaners keep buildings working — schools, offices, hospitals, plants, and public buildings.
About 1,120 positions open in North Dakota each year, it pays about $1.30 an hour more than housekeeping, and it is growing about 9%.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Janitor and Cleaner?
You clean and maintain a whole building rather than a set of rooms: floors, restrooms, trash, entries, and whatever broke today. In most buildings you also become the person who notices the leak, the burnt-out exit light, and the door that stopped latching — and reports it before it becomes expensive.
The Reality: Close a school’s custodial staff for a week and the school closes. That is the actual dependency, and almost nobody thinks about it. Much of this work happens after everyone else has gone home, which suits some people and isolates others. The chemicals are real and you need the training. Restrooms are part of it, every day.
Your Responsibilities:
- Clean and disinfect restrooms
- Sweep, mop, vacuum, buff, and strip floors
- Empty trash and handle recycling
- Keep entries and walkways safe, including snow and ice in winter
- Restock supplies before they run out
- Use cleaning chemicals safely and in the right order
- Notice and report maintenance problems early
- Lock up and secure the building
Done properly, nobody notices. That is the standard.
A Day in the Life
3:00 PM — Start as the building empties. Check the log for anything reported today.
3:30 PM — Restrooms first — they take the longest and matter the most.
5:00 PM — Trash round through the whole building.
6:00 PM — Break.
6:30 PM — Vacuum offices and corridors. Spot-clean the entry.
8:00 PM — Buff the main hallway floor — it needs doing while nobody is walking on it.
9:30 PM — Restock supplies for tomorrow. Log a leaking tap for maintenance.
10:00 PM — Check doors and lights, lock up.
Mostly independent work, often after hours, on a route you come to know exactly.
Training in North Dakota
No school needed. Trained on the job within a week or two. You learn the building and the routine on shift. Chemical safety training is required by law and your employer must provide it. Floor machines take a bit of practice and are usually taught on site.
Training Pathways:
- Schools, cities, and counties: Often the best of these jobs — benefits, a pension in some cases, and steady hours. Apply through the employer’s own job site.
- Hospitals (environmental services): Pay well, train you in infection control, and have clear promotion steps.
- Contract cleaning companies: Hire quickly and often, usually evenings. A reasonable way in if you need work now.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
Before You Start: No diploma or experience required by most employers. Public employers and hospitals usually run a background check. You need to be able to lift, push equipment, and be on your feet. Some positions require a driver’s licence.
Tip: Most of these jobs need no school, so the cost of starting is not tuition — it is the things you need in the first month. Non-slip shoes, work clothes or a uniform, a way to get to work, and getting through the two or three weeks before the first paycheck arrives. Ask the employer first: many will supply a uniform, some give a shoe allowance, and some pay weekly rather than every two weeks, which matters a lot at the start. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like work clothes, boots, tools, or getting to work. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you start rather than after.
Certification & Licensing
No license or certificate is required. Nothing official is needed to start. Your employer is required to train you on the chemicals you use.
Training and certificates that matter here:
- Chemical and hazard communication training — required by law, provided by the employer, and genuinely important
- Bloodborne pathogen training — provided where you may encounter it, including schools and hospitals
- Floor care training — buffers and strippers take skill; being good at floors is a real specialisation
- Building engineer or boiler licences — the route from custodian into building maintenance, which pays considerably more
The Exams: None required to start work.
Cost: Nothing to start. Required safety training is the employer’s responsibility.
Keeping It Current: Safety training is typically repeated each year.
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Janitor and Cleaner Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $14.81–$17.05/hour ($30,800–$35,470/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $18.15/hour ($37,750/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $22.21–$24.08/hour ($46,200–$50,080/year)
What that means: Schools, cities, counties, and hospitals sit at the upper end and usually come with benefits — which matter as much as the hourly rate. Contract cleaning companies sit lower. The top of this range is lead custodians and people who have moved toward building maintenance.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 7,260 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 7,880 (about 9% growth). Expect about 1120 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is growing about as fast as average.
Outlook: Good and stable. About 1,120 openings a year in North Dakota and about 9% growth. Buildings are not going away and this work cannot be done remotely.
Who Hires in ND: School districts, hospitals, cities and counties, colleges, office buildings, plants, and contract cleaning companies.
Work Setting: Indoors across a whole building, often evenings or overnight. Some outdoor work clearing snow and ice. Usually working alone or in a small crew.
Physical Demands: High. On your feet the whole shift, pushing equipment, lifting, bending, and reaching. Winter adds snow and ice work.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 37-2011); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Custodian or Cleaner — Where most people start.
Path 2: Lead Custodian — Run a building or a shift, order supplies, train new staff.
Path 3: Floor Care Technician — Specialise in floors and carpets — a skilled, better-paid niche.
Path 4: Hospital Environmental Services — Infection control work with clear steps up.
Path 5: Custodial Supervisor — Manage staff across several buildings.
Path 6: Building Maintenance — Learn systems on the job; with licences this pays considerably more.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- Pays more than most jobs you can start now
- School, city, and hospital jobs come with benefits
- You work independently, on your own routine
- Evening shifts can fit around family or another job
- Cannot be outsourced or done remotely
- A real route into building maintenance
What's Hard:
- Restrooms, every day
- Evening and overnight shifts can isolate you
- Physically demanding and hard on the back over time
- Snow and ice work in winter
- Chemical exposure if the training is poor
- People genuinely do not notice you unless something is wrong
Be Honest: Are you all right working alone, often in an empty building at night? Can your body handle being on your feet and pushing equipment all shift? Are you comfortable that the work is invisible when it is done well?