- Home
- Statistics
- Cleaning industry
Cleaning industry statistics 2026
How many cleaning businesses there are in the US, how many work alone, what the industry takes in and what janitors earn. Official numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and BLS, each with its source and year.
Updated October 24, 2026 · NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services) and 561790 (Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings)
Key numbers
- 67,799
janitorial service locations with paid employees.
- 1,095,927
janitorial businesses without paid employees, mostly people who work on their own.
- 1,088,193
people worked at janitorial companies with paid employees.
- $72.80 billion
revenue of janitorial companies with paid employees.
- 61.3%
of janitorial locations have fewer than 5 employees.
- 2,432,600
jobs as janitors and building cleaners.
The cleaning industry in numbers
Cleaning companies are counted mostly under NAICS 561720, janitorial services. NAICS 561790 covers other services to buildings and dwellings. County Business Patterns counts locations that have paid employees.
- 67,799
janitorial service locations with paid employees, up from 67,295 in 2022.
- 1,088,193
people worked at those locations in mid-March, up from 1,067,762 a year earlier.
- $32.74 billion
in annual payroll at janitorial companies.
- $72.80 billion
revenue of janitorial companies with paid employees.
- 18,069
locations under other services to buildings and dwellings (NAICS 561790), with 90,169 employees and $4.36 billion in payroll.
A business of small teams and solo cleaners
Most cleaning businesses are very small. The Census Bureau counts businesses without any paid employees separately, as nonemployers; in janitorial services they outnumber the companies with staff many times over.
- 41,548
of the 67,799 janitorial locations (61.3%) had fewer than 5 employees.
- 13,290
of the 18,069 locations in NAICS 561790 (73.6%) had fewer than 5 employees.
- 1,095,927
janitorial businesses without paid employees, with $22.78 billion in receipts.
What cleaning work pays
BLS publishes pay for janitors and building cleaners across all employers. About a third of them work at cleaning companies; the rest are spread across schools, healthcare and other employers.
- 2,432,600
jobs as janitors and building cleaners, with employment projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035.
- $36,840
median annual pay for janitors and building cleaners, or $17.71 an hour.
- 35%
of janitors work in services to buildings and dwellings; 17% work in education, 7% in healthcare and 5% are self-employed.
- $30,100
payroll per employee at janitorial companies.
BLS figures for maids and housekeeping cleaners, the typical home-cleaning job, are not on this page yet because we could not read the source.
How customers find a local business
These numbers come from consumer surveys, not from official statistics. They describe local customers in general, including people looking for a cleaning service, and are labeled as surveys.
- 97%
of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
- 41%
of consumers “always” read reviews when browsing for businesses.
- 71%
is Google’s share as a review source, down from 83% in 2025.
- 45%
use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before.
- 47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more.
- 89%
expect business owners to respond to reviews; 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
- 54%
are most likely to visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews.
- 76%
of people who searched on a smartphone for something nearby visited a business within a day, and 28% of those searches led to a purchase.
The Google numbers are from 2016, so read them as a direction, not as today’s share.
How to cite this page
You are welcome to use these numbers in articles, reports and presentations. Please name the original agency, and link to this page as the place you found them.
StrideRank. “Cleaning Industry Statistics 2026.” Updated October 24, 2026. https://striderank.com/statistics/cleaning-industry<a href="https://striderank.com/statistics/cleaning-industry">Cleaning industry statistics 2026</a> (StrideRank)Click a box to select it, then copy.
Sources and method
All sources accessed October 24, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.
How we built this page
- Only official or primary sources: federal agencies and the original publisher of a survey.
- Numbers StrideRank worked out from a source, such as shares, changes and pay per employee, are labeled “StrideRank calculation”.
- Survey results are labeled as surveys, with the publisher and year.
Left out on purpose
- Market-size figures from paid research firms, because their methods cannot be checked.
- BLS figures for maids and housekeeping cleaners, until we can read the source.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (U.S. file, establishments with paid employees)
Employment as of mid-March; establishments with paid employees only.
U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 (businesses without paid employees)
U.S. Census Bureau via FRED, Total Revenue for Janitorial Services, All Establishments, Employer Firms (REVEF56172ALLEST)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Janitors and Building Cleaners
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (U.S. file)
BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published February 11, 2026)
Industry survey: representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey.
Google / Think with Google, How Mobile Search Connects Consumers to Stores (Purchased Digital Diary, May 2016)
Survey of 1,000 smartphone users, of them 634 local searchers. Older data, dated 2016.
Common questions
How many cleaning businesses are there in the US?
The Census Bureau counted 67,799 janitorial service locations with paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns, NAICS 561720). Another 1,095,927 janitorial businesses had no paid employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2023).
How big is the janitorial services industry?
Janitorial companies with paid employees had $72.80 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the Census Bureau’s Service Annual Survey. Businesses without employees reported another $22.78 billion in receipts in 2023.
How much do janitors earn?
The median annual pay for janitors and building cleaners was $36,840 in 2025, or $17.71 an hour, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Can I use these statistics?
Yes. Every number links to its original source, so you can check it and cite the agency directly. If this page helped you, a link back to it as the place you found the numbers is appreciated.
More for your business
Now see how customers find your business.
Enter your website. The free audit shows how Google sees your site today — in under a minute, no account needed.
- No call needed
- No contract
- Cancel any time
StrideRank is not affiliated with Google. No ranking guarantees — nobody honest can give one.