What Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners earn in Gates County, NC
The median pay for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC is $33,580 per year, which works out to $16.14 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metropolitan area, the labor market that Gates County, NC belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $34,790, which is 3.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 11,840 people working in this occupation across the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Gates County, NC has roughly 10,376 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $27,650 a year ($13.29 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $45,360 or more ($21.81 an hour). That is a gap of $17,710 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $28,940 at the 25th percentile and $37,170 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC is $16.14. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $33,580, and the same salary is $2,798 a month before taxes or about $1,292 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $13.57 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners this way: "Keep buildings in clean and orderly condition. Perform heavy cleaning duties, such as cleaning floors, shampooing rugs, washing walls and glass, and removing rubbish. Duties may include tending furnace and boiler, performing routine maintenance activities, notifying management of need for repairs, and cleaning snow or debris from sidewalk."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Service, clean, or supply restrooms"; "Gather and empty trash"; "Clean building floors by sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, or vacuuming"; "Follow procedures for the use of chemical cleaners and power equipment to prevent damage to floors and fixtures".
Job outlook for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 2,432,600 jobs in 2025 to 2,486,200 in 2035, a change of +2.2%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 321,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $36,840 for this occupation; the Gates County, NC median of $33,580 is 8.8% below it.
How pay in Gates County, NC compares
Compared with the North Carolina average
The local median of $33,580 sits below the North Carolina employment-weighted average of $34,395. The shortfall is $815 a year, or 2.4%, so Gates County, NC is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within North Carolina, the highest median we track for this job is $35,600 in Mecklenburg County, NC.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is $37,083 across the contiguous United States. At $33,580, Gates County, NC pays $3,503 less, which is 9.4% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Gates County, NC
Among the 520 occupations with published wages in Gates County, NC, Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners ranks number 493 by median pay, ahead of about 5% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $129,090 a year, which is $95,510 more than the median for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $33,580 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $5,355 a year, which leaves $28,225, or $2,352 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $17,830. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,901, an effective 5.7% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,082 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $487. FICA totals $2,569, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in North Carolina
North Carolina income tax on this salary is $885 a year, or 2.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 47% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $74 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Gates County, NC
IRS Statistics of Income data for Gates County, NC show an average adjusted gross income of $61,500 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 8.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.5%, compared with the 5.7% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Gates County, NC
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Gates County, NC: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $28,225 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Gates County, NC is $1,489 a month, or $17,868 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,665 a month. For Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners, a one-bedroom absorbs 63.3% of take-home pay and 53.2% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 10.2% of gross pay for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using North Carolina residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,493 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $645, for $2,138 in total. Gasoline in North Carolina averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,472.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $24,914 a year, 88% of take-home pay. That leaves $3,311 a year, or $276 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 9.9% of gross pay, a thin cushion that one unexpected expense could erase.
Local housing and commute data for Gates County, NC
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Gates County, NC: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Gates County, NC, set beside the North Carolina and national medians.
Property taxes in Gates County, NC
Homeowners in Gates County, NC pay a median of $1,296 a year in real estate taxes, 32% below the North Carolina median of $1,896 and 58% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $170,800, the median tax bill is 0.76% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners median of $33,580, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Gates County, NC
Renters in Gates County, NC pay a median gross rent of $1,143 a month in the Census survey, 7% below the North Carolina median of $1,228. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,489 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $170,800, 41% below the North Carolina median of $288,900. Median household income is $66,333, 8% below the North Carolina median of $72,388, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 26.9% of that income.
Commuting in Gates County, NC
Workers in Gates County, NC who travel to a workplace spend an average of 41.7 minutes each way, 66% above the North Carolina average of 25.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 7.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 4.5% of workers in Gates County, NC work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners afford to live in Gates County, NC?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $33,580 that ceiling is $840 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,489 is $650 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $28.63 an hour; the median for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is $16.14, which is 44% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $13.57 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 25.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,665 a month means $833 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,878 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $11,189.
How fast you can save
At $276 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 37 months (3.1 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 74 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners pay in Gates County, NC
What is the hourly wage for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC?
The median is $16.14 per hour, based on $33,580 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.29 at the 10th percentile to $21.81 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $33,580 becomes $28,225 a year. That is $2,352 a month, $1,086 every two weeks or $543 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC?
Total taxes are $5,355 a year, an effective rate of 15.9%: $1,901 federal income tax, $2,569 FICA and $885 North Carolina income tax.
Is pay for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC above the North Carolina average?
No. The local median of $33,580 is -2.4% versus the North Carolina average of $34,395, a difference of $815 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners salary in Gates County, NC?
A one-bedroom costs $1,489 a month against take-home pay of $2,352, which is 63.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $840 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Gates County, NC?
About $276 a month ($3,311 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $24,914 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Gates County, NC at the 30% guideline?
$28.63 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $17,868 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is $16.14.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the North Carolina rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.