- The middle half earn between $22.24 and $49.93 an hour.
- Idaho ranks 20th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Idaho pays more than 3 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 600 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Idaho.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $112.56 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Idaho, bottom to top
BLS has no figure for crime scene cleaners. These are its numbers for hazardous materials removal workers, the closest group, which includes decontamination workers along with asbestos and lead abatement crews. Treat them as a rough guide, not a measure of crime scene work itself.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20.63 | $42,900 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $22.24 | $46,270 | $21.50 |
| Median | $23.90 | $49,710 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $49.93 | $103,850 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $49.93 | $103,850 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $32.36 | $67,320 | $27.13 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Idaho. The bottom tenth earn $20.63 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $49.93 or more, a gap of 2.4 times against 2.1 nationally. Where a crime scene cleaner sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $20.63 against $18.49 at the bottom tenth, and $49.93 against $39.62 at the top.
The average wage, $32.36, sits 35% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical crime scene cleaner makes.
How Idaho compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $49,710 in Idaho against $49,450 nationally, $260 more.
In the state ranking, Idaho sits 20th, between Iowa ($23.98) and Massachusetts ($23.86). Oregon has exactly the same median, $23.90, so the two share that place. The range runs from $17.61 in Arkansas to $35.14 in New York.
Against its neighboring states, Idaho is in the middle: Montana and Washington pay more, and Nevada, Utah and Wyoming pay less.
How many crime scene cleaners work in Idaho
About 600 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Idaho, 1.2% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 25th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in Idaho, 2.1 times the national share.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Idaho should charge
Say you run a biohazard cleaning business in Idaho and pay the state median of $23.90 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $23.90 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $53,515 |
| Break-even rate | ($53,515 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.68 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.68 ÷ 0.85 | $112.56 |
That is $112.56 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and almost the same as the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $49.93 in Idaho, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $158.27.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.24, the rate only drops to $109.65.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-4041, hazardous materials removal workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: crime scene cleaner salary by state.