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Housekeeper / Maid

$35,510
median / year
$27,640 – $48,570
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Clean rooms, change linens, restock supplies, and keep spaces sanitary in homes, hotels, or hospitals.

You may also see this posted as: Environmental Services Aide, Environmental Services Worker, Housekeeper, Housekeeping Laundry Worker, Chambermaid, Cleaner.

Where you work

Hotels, hospitals, and private homes

The hours

Daytime, weekend, and some seasonal shifts

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Keep storage areas and carts well-stocked, clean, and tidy.
  • Carry linens, towels, toilet items, and cleaning supplies, using wheeled carts.
  • Clean rooms, hallways, lobbies, lounges, restrooms, corridors, elevators, stairways, locker rooms, and other work areas so that health standards are met.
  • Empty wastebaskets, empty and clean ashtrays, and transport other trash and waste to disposal areas.
  • Sweep, scrub, wax, or polish floors, using brooms, mops, or powered scrubbing and waxing machines.

Good fit if you like…

Realistic

working with tools, equipment, materials, or the physical world

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Social

helping, teaching, caring for, or supporting other people

O*NET job zone 2 of 5

Some preparation—often a high school credential and on-the-job learning—is usually needed.

Work styles that matter most

DependabilityAttention to DetailIntegrityCooperation

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

FacebookMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft WindowsBlinkComputerized bed control system softwareComputerized maintenance management system CMMS

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$35,510
per year
Hourly median
$17.07
per hour
What most earn
$27,640–$48,570
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~193,500
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+0.4%
Little change
Working in the U.S.
860,670
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 12.8% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

No formal credential

Training path: On-the-job training, paid.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

Physical staminaAttention to detailTime managementReliability

The honest take

Always hiring, especially in hotels and hospitals — steady, physical work that rarely sits idle.

Standard Occupational Classification 37-2012. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.