- The middle half earn between $20.67 and $29.32 an hour.
- Maine ranks 33rd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Maine pays less than its only neighbor, New Hampshire.
- BLS counts about 190 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Maine.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $110.51 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Maine, 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 | $19.19 | $39,920 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $20.67 | $42,990 | $21.50 |
| Median | $22.73 | $47,280 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $29.32 | $60,990 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $41.03 | $85,340 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $26.60 | $55,330 | $27.13 |
From the bottom tenth ($19.19) to the top tenth ($41.03), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Maine, close to the 2.1 times spread for crime scene cleaners nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $19.19 against $18.49 at the bottom tenth, and $41.03 against $39.62 at the top.
The average wage, $26.60, sits 17% 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 Maine compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $47,280 in Maine against $49,450 nationally, $2,170 less.
In the state ranking, Maine sits 33rd, between Nevada ($22.85) and Connecticut ($22.64). The range runs from $17.61 in Arkansas to $35.14 in New York.
Every one of the neighboring states pays crime scene cleaners more than Maine. The closest is New Hampshire at $26.59, and the biggest gap is with New Hampshire.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Maine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | $22.73 | $47,280 | |
| New Hampshire | $26.59 | $55,310 | +$3.86 an hour |
How many crime scene cleaners work in Maine
About 190 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Maine, 0.4% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 42nd largest count among the states.
That is 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Maine, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Maine should charge
Say you run a biohazard cleaning business in Maine and pay the state median of $22.73 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 | $22.73 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $50,895 |
| Break-even rate | ($50,895 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $93.93 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $93.93 ÷ 0.85 | $110.51 |
That is $110.51 per billable hour, 4.9 times the wage, and $1.84 less than the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.32 in Maine, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.08.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $20.67, the rate only drops to $106.89.
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.