Janitorial Wages in Utah (2026)

Utah's $14.61/hr janitorial median masks a sharp Salt Lake City vs. rest-of-state divide — the Salt Lake-Murray metro's building/grounds mean hits $18.32/hr while Utah's statewide figure is dragged down by rural agricultural and plateau markets earning well below $14/hr.

CurrentStatute: BLS OEWS May 2024 (SOC 37-2011) + Utah Code Ann. §34-40-202 (state minimum wage = federal rate by reference)Effective: Federal $7.25/hr — Utah minimum wage statute adopts the federal rate; has not been independently increasedLast reviewed: Q2 2026

Utah's janitorial workforce earns a statewide mean and median hourly wage of $14.61 (BLS OEWS May 2024, SOC 37-2011) — a figure that belies the significant intra-state variation between Utah's booming Wasatch Front metros and its rural plateau and agricultural markets. With no state minimum wage above the federal $7.25/hr floor (Utah's statute simply adopts the federal rate), the $7.36/hr gap between the legal floor and state median is among the widest in this batch, confirming that market forces — not regulation — drive compensation.

What employers should plan for

Floor: $7.25/hr federal (Utah Code Ann. §34-40-202 adopts the federal minimum by reference). Utah has not enacted an independent minimum wage increase. Despite the low floor, Wasatch Front market wages have moved substantially ahead of it, with Salt Lake City-area commercial cleaners typically commanding $15–$18/hr.
Local floors: Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have not enacted municipal minimum wage ordinances for private employers. No Utah municipality maintains a wage floor above the state/federal rate.
Loaded labor rate: Commercial cleaning bids in Utah run approximately $22–$30/hr total loaded cost. Salt Lake City metro bids should budget $26–$32/hr given the tighter labor market and higher prevailing wages. Utah's workers' comp costs are moderate.
Workers' comp class 9014 — Utah NCCI jurisdiction; estimated base rate approximately $1.80–$2.20/$100 payroll for commercial janitorial contractors (Utah maintains competitive WC rates).

High-wage metros vs. low-wage metros

Salt Lake City-Murray MSA — home to the state's largest tech, finance, and healthcare economy — leads the state with a building and grounds cleaning group mean of $18.32/hr per BLS May 2024, suggesting SOC 37-2011 janitor wages of $17.00–$18.00/hr. The tech sector (Adobe, Qualtrics, Goldman Sachs tech hub, eBay) and major healthcare systems create institutional cleaning demand at premium rates. Ogden-Clearfield MSA (defense, aerospace, Weber State) follows closely with a $17.90/hr group mean, estimated at $16.50–$17.50/hr for janitors specifically. At the lower end, St. George MSA — dominated by retirement and Zion National Park tourism — is estimated at $13.00–$14.00/hr, reflecting its lower-wage service economy. Rural Utah nonmetropolitan areas (price, Moab, Logan rural areas) may run as low as $11.00–$13.00/hr for the sparse commercial cleaning market.

Wage percentile distribution (BLS OEWS 2024)

10th percentile: $10.90/hr
25th percentile: $13.32/hr
Median (50th): $14.61/hr
75th percentile: $17.85/hr
90th percentile: $22.40/hr

Utah's distribution is wide — an $11.50/hr spread from 10th to 90th percentile — reflecting the dramatic difference between rural sub-$12/hr markets and premium Wasatch Front commercial facilities. The 90th percentile at $22.40/hr is notably high relative to the median, suggesting a cluster of well-compensated institutional/government cleaning positions in Salt Lake City that pull the upper tail significantly above the state average.

Union presence

Utah is a right-to-work state with private-sector union density approximately 3–4%. SEIU 32BJ has no commercial cleaning presence in Utah. Some University of Utah and Utah state government facility workers are represented by AFSCME. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' large campus and facility operations in Salt Lake City use non-union contract cleaning. Commercial cleaning wages are entirely market-determined with no pattern bargaining influence.

What this means for bid math

Utah's statewide $14.61/hr median understates the true cost environment for the dominant Salt Lake City-Ogden market, where competitive wages run $17–$18/hr. Multi-site Utah contracts must use location-specific wage assumptions: Salt Lake City/Ogden bids at $17.00–$18.00/hr base (total loaded $27–$32/hr), Provo/Orem at $15.00–$16.50/hr, and rural Utah at $12–$14/hr. Workers' comp at ~$1.80–$2.20/$100 is moderate. No union wage floor complications. The wide 10th-to-90th distribution ($11.50/hr range) means entry-level and experienced cleaner pricing differs substantially — contracts requiring skilled or specialized cleaning should budget $18–$20/hr for worker quality.

Primary sources

Related research for Utah