Prepping for Pay Day

Survey Explores Salaries for Facility Cleaning Execs

BY Jake Meister, Senior Associate Editor

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William Shakespeare penned the words “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” in the late 1500s. Over 400 years later, the idiom might be more commonly overheard as “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” No matter what version one prefers, the message is as pertinent as ever.  Like many leaders, facility cleaning managers carry considerable responsibility with their title. Every decision they make has the potential for positive or negative consequences, and depending on the size of their staff, those outcomes can impact dozens of employees and their families. Consequently, they make choices that impact not just bottom lines, but lives, too.  This considerable stress suggests that facility cleaning managers deserve fair compensation. However, what’s fair when it comes to pay is open to interpretation. That’s why the “Facility Cleaning Decisions Salary Survey” is so vital. This year’s survey included a wide range of questions posed to facility cleaning managers of different ages and experience levels from varying parts of the country and in different positions within facility cleaning management.  The average annual salary among the managers who disclosed their pay came to just over $86,000, slightly down from $90,000 in 2023 but up plenty from 2017 when the average was just $65,000. Of course, if all those surveyed were told $86,000 would be their new salary, some would be elated, and others upset. But if the average salary is relative to the number of buildings a facility cleaning manager oversees, things seem fairer — for the most part.   The average salary for those who oversee 100 buildings or more is $144,000, which should make that crown feel a little less burdensome. Conversely, the average salary for facility cleaning managers who oversee only one building is closer to $73,000. The correlation between the number of buildings managed and salary makes sense, outside of one anomaly. There is a small dip in average salary for those managers responsible for between 11 and 19 buildings, but it corrects itself again as the square footage grows.  Odd numbers start to pop up when looking at average salaries by age. One might expect the older, more experienced facility cleaning managers to be earning the most, but that isn’t the case. The oldest age group (over 70) brought home an average of just over $86,000. This is better than those 60 to 69 who reported the lowest average at $84,000, but still shy of Gen Zs who averaged $87,000. The sweet spot lies with managers aged 50 to 59 who are reportedly taking home just over $90,000 a year.  The pay by age for facility managers matches national trends in that being older doesn’t equate to greater income. According to USA Today, the highest earning U.S. workers in 2024 were those aged 35 to 44, with an average salary of $67,756. Those aged 45 to 54 earn an average of $66,300 per year. People aged 55 to 64 earn an average of $64,688 in 2024.  A clearer correlation between facility cleaning managers and their income is revealed when examining pay based on title. Each manager surveyed was asked to pick from a predetermined list of job titles which most closely matched their own. Thus, the survey was able to determine that those whose position most closely resembled “director of custodial operations” earned the most, at an average of $98,286, up big from $82,690 in 2023. Those who selected “director of environmental services” reported the second highest average salary at $89,603, a big drop from $101,467 in 2023. Those who most closely identified with the title of “housekeeping manager” had the lowest average salary at $58,091, down from $67,600 in 2023. Presently, the housekeeping manager salary is almost $15,000 less than the next lowest salary, which belonged to those who identify as a “manager of custodial operations.” With the cost of living rising, many wonder whether wages will start to go back up over the next two years.  Naturally, location doesn’t just impact the cost of real estate, but pay, too. (After all, the cost of living is going to be higher in San Francisco than in Dubuque, Iowa or Mobile, Alabama.) This study breaks down the pay of facility cleaning managers based on the region in which they live.   At over $98,000, the highest average pay occurs in what the survey defined as the Southwest region, which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. Facility cleaning managers who reside in the Northeast region, which includes 13 states and Washington, D.C., were the second highest, paid at a rate of a little over $97,000 on average. Those living in the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) reported the lowest average annual earning at over $72,000.  Numbers fans will be delighted to know that the survey results also provide several other ways to look at the data. Sign in to access and download the full survey for free.

POSTED ON: 11/24/2025