Job Description

• Janitors, including live-in janitors, are employed to maintain cleanliness. This includes the tasks of vacuuming, mopping, dusting and many other types of cleaning. The job usually doesn’t stop there. Typically janitors must also maintain their cleaning supplies and ensure that their maintenance area is properly supplied. This could mean verifying that each stall in a restroom is supplied with toilet paper or that each trash can is lined with a bag. Janitors can even operate as handymen and also provide building maintenance services.
  
  

Places of Employment

• Janitors are employed at many types of organizations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), janitors typically work in schools, hospitals, universities and large office buildings. The demand for live-in janitors usually exists in places like apartment and condo buildings. In fact, New York City requires that apartment building owners must either live on-site to be available for repairs and janitorial services or they must provide a live-in janitor, according to The Cooperator. Churches also may employ a live-in janitor.
  
  

Salary

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are more than two million janitors and cleaners currently employed in the U.S. On average, janitors earn $24,560 in annual salary. Alaska and Massachusetts are the two highest paying states for this vocation. In these states, janitors earn an average yearly salary of $31,050 and $30,500, respectively. California and New York have the highest levels of employment for janitors and cleaners. This data provided by the BLS is current through 2008 and encompasses all janitorial jobs, not just those where the janitor lives on the premises.
  
  

Live-in Janitor Salary

• The BLS data for janitorial salaries does not differentiate between live-in janitors and those that live off-site. For live-in janitors working as apartment building superintendents in New York City, earnings vary from $50,000 to $100,000 according to The Cooperator (as of 2004). The salary is dependent on how high-end the apartment building is. Many times, live-in janitors can also live in the building they service rent free. In addition to salary, tips for services may also be received. On the other end of the spectrum, a live-in janitor working for the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association in Dallas could expect to earn from $23,000 to $29,700 in annual salary and live rent free at time of publication. Salary in this vocation is dependent on geographic location and the building’s level of luxury.