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The commercial cleaning industry is best illustrated with numbers. Custodial managers calculate workload using time and square footage as factors. Frontline teams compare compensation packages when considering staying or leaving the profession. Jan/san distributors and manufacturers innovate to improve cleaning times and minimize the amount of product and facility waste. Now, the 2026 State of Commercial Cleaning Operations offers a new look at the numbers impacting the industry.

Overall, the report found that of the 62,970 firms and 67,295 establishments providing janitorial services in 2022, 89 percent contain no more than 20 employees. Digging into the data deeper, 294 of the 62,970 firms have 500 or more staff members, indicating that 0.47 percent of commercial cleaning firms employ 43.1 percent of all industry workers. As facility cleaning managers and building service contractors (BSCs) face staffing shortages amid shrinking budgets, these numbers reflect the reality of maintaining cleaning operations with fewer frontline staff.

Another factor impacting operational costs is pay. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median wage for janitors and cleaners in 2024 was $17.27 per hour. Across the country, states are considering minimum wage increases to combat rising inflation. In January, some states elected to increase their minimum wage, such as New York City's raise to $17 per hour, while others adhered to the federal floor with a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Commercial cleaning executives have become more aware of the role pay plays in labor recruitment and retention. According to a CleanLink monthly poll, 44 percent of industry members claim that competition in compensation is contributing to ongoing staffing challenges, with 72 percent maintaining that compensation alongside benefits can engage employees and enhance their well-being. As geopolitical conflict and inflation continue to impact the public's economic situation, the commercial cleaning industry will need to prioritize fair compensation packages to combat constant turnover.

A hopeful trend emerging from this data set is that commercial cleaning continues to demonstrate business resiliency. The commercial cleaning report determined that industry revenue grew from $44.2 billion in 2015 to $72.8 billion in 2022. This strong pattern of growth aligns with the results of Contracting Profits and BSCAI's (Building Service Contractors Association International) market study report. According to BSCs, both sales and profits in 2025 were slightly higher than in 2024, and in 2026, they predict those results will remain the same.

This indicates that commercial cleaning representatives can adapt to current challenges as cleaning remains an essential service to public health. To learn more about the results of the report, click here.