Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
Keep buildings in clean and orderly condition. Perform heavy cleaning duties, such as cleaning floors, shampooing rugs, washing walls and glass, and removing rubbish. Duties may include tending furnace and boiler, performing routine maintenance activities, notifying management of need for repairs, and cleaning snow or debris from sidewalk.
2,209,760 people do this job in the US. $36,840 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 5%
- 0%
- 95%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 5%. Today's estimate: 5%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 21 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean building floors by sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, or vacuuming.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Gather and empty trash.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Service, clean, or supply restrooms.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean windows, glass partitions, or mirrors, using soapy water or other cleaners, sponges, or squeegees.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and polish furniture and fixtures.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 29 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Dust furniture, walls, machines, or equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor building security and safety by performing tasks such as locking doors after operating hours or checking electrical appliance use to ensure that hazards are not created.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean chimneys, flues, and connecting pipes, using power or hand tools.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive vans, industrial trucks, or other vehicles required to travel to, or to perform, cleaning work.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up, arrange, or remove decorations, tables, chairs, ladders, or scaffolding to prepare facilities for events, such as banquets or meetings.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Follow procedures for the use of chemical cleaners and power equipment to prevent damage to floors and fixtures.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Move heavy furniture, equipment, or supplies, either manually or with hand trucks.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).