Chicago Public Schools / Custodial Worker
Role across Chicago Public Schools
Custodial Worker
Operate, maintain, and repair equipment or facilities, performing skilled hands-on work.
1,850 people hold the Custodial Worker role across 1 department in Chicago Public Schools, with a median total compensation of $67,335. Among 14 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Chicago Public Schools ranks #1 by median pay.
- Employees
- 1,850
- Median pay
- $67,335
- Departments
- 1
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #1 of 14
Compared with the local labor market
Custodial Worker pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners — about 70,000 people — is $38,470. Chicago Public Schools pays a median base salary of $47,154 for this role, 23% above that figure — about the 80th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Chicago Public Schools sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners — about 2,209,760 people — is $36,840. Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary is 28% above that national figure, about the 82nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 1,830 of 1,850 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Chicago Public Schools is $67,335, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Custodial Worker pay in other jurisdictions
Where Custodial Workers are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Custodial Worker roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within Chicago Public Schools
Department with this role
The Chicago Public Schools department holding this role
The one department in Chicago Public Schools that reports this role. The bar links to that department’s page for it.