Janitorial Wages in Dallas, TX

Updated Jun 3, 2026 Reviewed by Opora Editorial Team Editorial standards →

The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is the fifth-largest janitorial labor market in the United States. BLS OEWS May 2023 data records approximately 46,070 janitors employed and a mean hourly wage of $15.70, reflecting Texas's right-to-work, no-state-income-tax, no-local-minimum-wage environment. DFW is also home to more corporate headquarters per square foot of Class A office than anywhere in the South—ExxonMobil (Irving), AT&T (downtown Dallas), American Airlines (Fort Worth), Toyota North America (Plano)—creating a premium cleaning segment that pays above median. The critical DFW-specific risk that out-of-state operators consistently underestimate: Texas imposes sales tax on janitorial services, and failure to collect and remit is one of the most common BSC audit triggers in the state.

BLS OEWS May 2024 Wage Distribution

Percentile	Hourly	Annual	Benchmark
10th	$11.65	$24,220	Federal floor adjacent; outer suburban (Mansfield, Rowlett, Denton) non-union entry
25th	$13.91	$28,920	Standard entry; Mid-Cities corridor (Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving) commercial cleaning
50th (Median)	$16.61	$34,560	Experienced commercial; Plano, Frisco, McKinney suburban office parks
75th	$17.74	$36,900	Lead cleaner or supervisor; Uptown Dallas Class A commercial accounts
90th	$21.31	$44,330	DFW Airport contract cleaners; specialty/healthcare; GSA-covered federal facilities

Source: O*NET Local Wages TX 2024, SOC 37-2011. BLS OEWS May 2023: 46,070 janitors, mean $15.70/hr (MSA 19100). No Texas state minimum wage above federal $7.25/hr. Annual at 2,080 hours.

Texas Sales Tax on Janitorial Services

Texas imposes its 6.25% state sales and use tax—plus local rates up to 2.00% for a combined maximum of 8.25%—on real property services, which explicitly includes janitorial, custodial, and building grounds cleaning per Tex. Tax Code § 151.0048(a)(4). The Texas Comptroller Publication 94-111 confirms that any janitorial operator must hold a Texas sales tax permit and collect tax on gross billings. There is no residential/commercial distinction—both are taxable. The narrow property management company exemption analyzed by Moss Adams (April 2024) requires operating and managing all property activities AND securing tenants—excluding pure-play BSCs entirely. Practical impact: invoice Dallas city accounts at 8.25%; unincorporated Collin County at 6.25%. Failure to charge and remit is the contractor's liability—not the client's—creating uncapped retroactive exposure from prior periods without collection.

Workers' Comp: Texas Optional Coverage and Risk

Texas is the only state where workers' compensation is not mandatory for private employers. Non-subscribers lose all common-law defenses in injury suits; injured workers can sue for negligence with no fellow-servant or assumption-of-risk defenses available. In janitorial—where slip-and-fall rates are among the highest of any service sector—this creates uncapped judgment exposure. In practice, virtually all Class A building managers require WC coverage proof in vendor contracts; operating without it disqualifies a BSC from most commercial accounts above the micro tier. NCCI Class 9014 advisory loss costs in Texas run approximately $1.80–$2.20/$100 payroll—among the lowest nationally. A $1M payroll BSC budgets $18,000–$22,000 annually in WC premium, making coverage cost-effective relative to uninsured liability exposure.

Corporate Headquarters Cleaning: The Fortune 500 Segment

DFW's Fortune 500 density creates a premium account tier. ExxonMobil's 2.1M sq-ft Irving campus: 100+ dedicated cleaners with ISO 14001 protocols and hazardous material handling certifications for petrochemical research buildings. AT&T's downtown Dallas headquarters at Whitacre Tower: 24/7 availability and security clearance requirements for top floors. American Airlines Group at Fort Worth: office plus hangar environments requiring FAA coordination and aircraft-proximity safety protocols. Toyota North America in Plano: 100-acre mixed-use campus with sustainability reporting tied to Toyota's global Green Operations Standards. These accounts bill at $32–$45/hr and typically require multi-year fixed-price contracts with CPI escalators.

DFW Airport and Non-Union Market Dynamics

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport—third-busiest in the world by aircraft operations—is governed by DFW Airport Board contracts separate from commercial terms. SCA wage determinations govern federally-funded airport areas; effective wages for DFW terminal cleaning workers run $17–$22/hr reflecting 24/7 scheduling, background check requirements, and TSA badging. Texas right-to-work status means SEIU presence in DFW commercial cleaning is essentially nil. Post-COVID, effective DFW starting wages moved from ~$10/hr (2019) to $12.50–$14/hr (2024) through market forces alone. Key BSC operators: ABM Industries, Aramark, Allied Universal, GDI Services, and Puritan Building Services. Texas's no-income-tax advantage provides workers $0.79–$1.10/hr more net take-home versus California or Illinois at equivalent gross wages—a legitimate recruitment differentiator.

Submarket Variation and Bid Guidance

Uptown Dallas / Harwood / Turtle Creek: premium Class A, highest rates $35–$45/hr. Las Colinas (Irving): energy-dominated mixed commercial at similar Uptown rates. Plano / Frisco / Allen: fastest-growing Texas office submarket, technology and corporate relocations; $25–$35/hr. Fort Worth CBD / Alliance Corridor: American Airlines, BNSF headquarters downtown; Alliance logistics corridor at $12–$15/hr. Arlington: mid-tier commercial and AT&T Stadium event cleaning at $14–$18/hr event rates. Loaded labor at the $16.61/hr median: FICA + TX WC $2.00/$100 + liability allocation = approximately $21–$25/hr all-in. Standard commercial bill rates: Uptown $32–$45/hr; suburban Plano/Frisco $24–$34/hr; logistics/industrial $18–$24/hr.

Primary sources

https://www.onetonline.org/link/localwages/37-2011.00?st=TX

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-111.php

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/96-259.php

https://www.mossadams.com/articles/2024/04/texas-property-management-and-sales-tax/

https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes372011.htm

Disclaimer — Bidding & pricing content

Benchmark figures, labor rates, and wage percentiles on this page reflect Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for the May 2024 OEWS survey period. BLS data, vintage May 2024 OEWS; not a guarantee of local market wages. They are reference benchmarks, not quotes, not market guarantees, and not professional bid recommendations.

Actual costs in your market depend on local labor conditions, your hiring practices, account-specific scope, and competitive conditions that this content cannot anticipate. No recommendation is made regarding what to pay employees. Wage decisions are the employer's responsibility and should be informed by current market conditions, applicable law, and qualified business counsel.

Before using any figure for a binding business decision, verify current wage data at the BLS OEWS metro page and current state minimum wage at DOL's state minimum wage page. Have a qualified business advisor review any bid structure above your organization's risk threshold.

Questions? Contact us.

Data vintage: BLS OEWS May 2024 OEWS. Page last reviewed: June 2, 2026. Primary source: BLS OEWS Metropolitan Area Data. Spot an error? Contact us.

Janitorial Wages in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — BLS OEWS May 2024 OEWS

Janitorial wages — Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area