---
title: "Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker"
description: "Operate or tend washing or dry-cleaning machines to wash or dry-clean industrial or household articles, such as cloth garments, suede, leather, furs…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/laundry-and-dry-cleaning-worker"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-6011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-6011.00

Operate or tend washing or dry-cleaning machines to wash or dry-clean industrial or household articles, such as cloth garments, suede, leather, furs, blankets, draperies, linens, rugs, and carpets. Includes spotters and dyers of these articles.

Also advertised as: Dry Cleaner; Industrial Laundry Attendant; Laundry Aide; Laundry Assistant; Laundry Attendant; Laundry Housekeeper; Laundry Technician (Laundry Tech); Laundry Worker.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $34,890 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $16.78/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $27,440 to $43,190, with the middle half between $30,360 and $37,560
- **Total US employment:** 198,040
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 28,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 52/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 198,040 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,440 |
| 25th | $30,360 |
| 50th (median) | $34,890 |
| 75th | $37,560 |
| 90th | $43,190 |
| Mean (average) | $34,920 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $39,590 | $36,996 | 3,870 |
| OR | $37,800 | $36,571 | 1,890 |
| CA | $37,790 | $34,131 | 21,940 |
| DC | $37,790 | $34,385 | 320 |
| CO | $37,680 | $36,564 | 3,370 |
| MN | $37,580 | $38,105 | 3,530 |
| MA | $37,490 | $35,449 | 3,700 |
| ND | $37,470 | $42,121 | 840 |
| ME | $37,380 | $38,516 | 820 |
| VT | $37,300 | $38,078 | 280 |
| RI | $37,230 | $36,400 | 650 |
| NH | $36,860 | $35,386 | 890 |
| AZ | $36,500 | $36,255 | 4,290 |
| CT | $36,310 | $35,045 | 1,830 |
| MT | $36,250 | $38,301 | 1,030 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/laundry-and-dry-cleaning-worker/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/laundry-and-dry-cleaning-worker.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 204,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 213,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 8,700 jobs, or +4.3%. About as fast as average: 4.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 28,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

## What the work involves

- Load articles into washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to perform loading.
- Remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so.
- Examine and sort into lots articles to be cleaned, according to color, fabric, dirt content, and cleaning technique required.
- Sort and count articles removed from dryers, and fold, wrap, or hang them.
- Start washers, dry cleaners, driers, or extractors, and turn valves or levers to regulate machine processes and the volume of soap, detergent, water, bleach, starch, and other additives.
- Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation.
- Sprinkle chemical solvents over stains, and pat areas with brushes or sponges to remove stains.
- Determine spotting procedures and proper solvents, based on fabric and stain types.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 1.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operation and Control — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 2.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Category Flexibility — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.38 |
| C — Conventional | 4.26 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.54 |
| S — Social | 1.36 |
| A — Artistic | 1.18 |
| I — Investigative | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 86.1 |
| ISFJ | 76.6 |
| ESTJ | 75.5 |
| ISTP | 70.0 |
| ESFJ | 60.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Cleaner of Vehicles and Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cleaner-of-vehicles-and-equipment) — median $35,830
- [Presser, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials](https://nuecareer.com/careers/presser-textile-garment-and-related-materials) — median $35,060
- [Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cleaning-washing-and-metal-pickling-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $43,530
- [Sewing Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sewing-machine-operator) — median $36,670
- [Painting, Coating, and Decorating Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/painting-coating-and-decorating-worker) — median $41,600
- [Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/textile-bleaching-and-dyeing-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $38,180
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Maid and Housekeeping Cleaner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maid-and-housekeeping-cleaner) — median $35,510
- [Cutter and Trimmer, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutter-and-trimmer-hand) — median $38,020
- [Packer and Packager, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/packer-and-packager-hand) — median $36,280

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/laundry-and-dry-cleaning-worker