- The middle half earn between $17.05 and $22.67 an hour.
- Connecticut ranks 14th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Connecticut pays more than 1 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 28,740 janitors on payrolls in Connecticut.
- At the state median wage, a commercial cleaning company needs to bill about $102.64 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Janitor pay in Connecticut, bottom to top
BLS counts janitors and cleaners together, outside of maids and housekeeping. Office cleaning crews and school custodians are in this group.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $16.42 | $34,150 | $13.77 |
| 25th percentile | $17.05 | $35,470 | $15.50 |
| Median | $18.25 | $37,960 | $17.71 |
| 75th percentile | $22.67 | $47,150 | $21.18 |
| 90th percentile | $28.70 | $59,690 | $24.17 |
| Average (mean) | $20.48 | $42,590 | $18.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($16.42) to the top tenth ($28.70), the top of the scale pays about 1.7 times the bottom in Connecticut, close to the 1.8 times spread for janitors nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $16.42 against $13.77 at the bottom tenth, and $28.70 against $24.17 at the top.
The average wage, $20.48, sits 12% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical janitor makes.
How Connecticut compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $37,960 in Connecticut against $36,840 nationally, $1,120 more.
In the state ranking, Connecticut sits 14th, between Nevada ($18.47) and Illinois ($18.18). The range runs from $13.64 in Mississippi to $21.91 in Massachusetts.
Against its neighboring states, Connecticut is in the middle: Massachusetts and New York pay more, and Rhode Island pays less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Connecticut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $18.25 | $37,960 | |
| Massachusetts | $21.91 | $45,580 | +$3.66 an hour |
| New York | $20.02 | $41,640 | +$1.77 an hour |
| Rhode Island | $17.94 | $37,310 | −$0.31 an hour |
How many janitors work in Connecticut
About 28,740 janitors work on payrolls in Connecticut, 1.3% of the 2,209,760 nationwide, the 25th largest count among the states.
That is 16.9 of every 1,000 jobs in Connecticut, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a commercial cleaning company in Connecticut should charge
Say you run a commercial cleaning company in Connecticut and pay the state median of $18.25 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 | $18.25 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $40,864 |
| Break-even rate | ($40,864 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $87.24 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $87.24 ÷ 0.85 | $102.64 |
That is $102.64 per billable hour, 5.6 times the wage, and almost the same as the $101.69 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $22.67 in Connecticut, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $110.40.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.05, the rate only drops to $100.53.
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.
Working as a janitor in Connecticut
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how cleaning companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
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 37-2011, janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners, 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: janitor salary by state.