Cleaner of Vehicles and Equipment Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment earn a median of $35,830 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 30% below the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $17.23/hr. The middle half earn between $30,420 and $41,040. The top 10% earn $47,610 or more.

The median hourly wage for cleaners of vehicles and equipment is $17.23 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $35,830 annual median works out to about $2,990 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of cleaners of vehicles and equipment earn less than $27,380 a year and the bottom quarter less than $30,420 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

The highest state medians for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment are District of Columbia ($42,710), Alaska ($40,210), Washington ($40,070) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, North Dakota moves to the top at $41,918.

BLS does not split cleaners of vehicles and equipment' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $47,610, against a median of $35,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are District of Columbia ($42,710), Alaska ($40,210), Washington ($40,070).

No. BLS lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry requirement for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as some preparation. BLS also lists short-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 54.0% hold high school diploma or the equivalent (such as a ged).

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for cleaners of vehicles and equipment is no formal educational credential. Once hired, BLS lists short-term on-the-job training as typical. O*NET classes the work as needing some preparation.

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 3.9% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 51,500 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Hand laborers and material movers manually move freight, stock, or other materials. A core O*NET task: inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations. Employers most often ask for Operating system software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 30% of cleaners of vehicles and equipment usually work more than 40 hours a week, 62% work exactly 40 and 8% work fewer. 87% say their schedule is regular and 3% irregular, and 10% work seasonally. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment highest on the Realistic and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 20.7% of cleaners of vehicles and equipment, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. Only 14.1% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs): a young workforce, with 37.6% under 25. The median worker is 30.7 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.