- The middle half earn between $15.98 and $22.23 an hour.
- Rhode Island ranks 19th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Rhode Island pays less than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 7,270 janitors on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, a commercial cleaning company needs to bill about $102.09 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Janitor pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $15.11 | $31,430 | $13.77 |
| 25th percentile | $15.98 | $33,240 | $15.50 |
| Median | $17.94 | $37,310 | $17.71 |
| 75th percentile | $22.23 | $46,240 | $21.18 |
| 90th percentile | $24.54 | $51,050 | $24.17 |
| Average (mean) | $19.42 | $40,390 | $18.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($15.11) to the top tenth ($24.54), the top of the scale pays about 1.6 times the bottom in Rhode Island, close to the 1.8 times spread for janitors nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $15.11 against $13.77 at the bottom tenth, and $24.54 against $24.17 at the top.
The average wage, $19.42, sits 8% 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 Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $37,310 in Rhode Island against $36,840 nationally, $470 more.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 19th, between New Jersey ($18.09) and Montana ($17.84). The range runs from $13.64 in Mississippi to $21.91 in Massachusetts.
Every one of the neighboring states pays janitors more than Rhode Island. The closest is Connecticut at $18.25, and the biggest gap is with Massachusetts.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $17.94 | $37,310 | |
| Connecticut | $18.25 | $37,960 | +$0.31 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $21.91 | $45,580 | +$3.97 an hour |
How many janitors work in Rhode Island
Rhode Island has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 7,270 janitors on payrolls, 0.3% of the 2,209,760 nationwide.
That is 14.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Rhode Island, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a commercial cleaning company in Rhode Island should charge
Say you run a commercial cleaning company in Rhode Island and pay the state median of $17.94 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 | $17.94 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $40,170 |
| Break-even rate | ($40,170 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $86.78 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $86.78 ÷ 0.85 | $102.09 |
That is $102.09 per billable hour, 5.7 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, $22.23 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $109.63.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $15.98, the rate only drops to $98.65.
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.
Working as a janitor in Rhode Island
- 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.