Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
Perform any combination of light cleaning duties to maintain private households or commercial establishments, such as hotels and hospitals, in a clean and orderly manner. Duties may include making beds, replenishing linens, cleaning rooms and halls, and vacuuming.
Most important skills
- Service Orientation
- Coordination
- Time Management
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Chemistry
- Education and Training
- Production and Processing
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Carry linens, towels, toilet items, and cleaning supplies, using wheeled carts.
- Clean rooms, hallways, lobbies, lounges, restrooms, corridors, elevators, stairways, locker rooms, and other work areas so that health standards are met.
- Empty wastebaskets, empty and clean ashtrays, and transport other trash and waste to disposal areas.
- Replenish supplies, such as drinking glasses, linens, writing supplies, and bathroom items.
- Keep storage areas and carts well-stocked, clean, and tidy.
- Dust and polish furniture and equipment.
- Sweep, scrub, wax, or polish floors, using brooms, mops, or powered scrubbing and waxing machines.
- Clean rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and draperies, using vacuum cleaners and shampooers.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (44.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (48.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (42.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 86% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 55% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 76% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 94% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 52% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 93% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 62% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 97% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 10.12%
- Occasional contact with others: 7.81%
- Contact with others about half the time: 11.13%
- Contact with others most of the time: 37.43%
- Constant contact with others: 33.5%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 7.89%
- Fairly important: 14.33%
- Important: 35.56%
- Very important: 25.23%
- Extremely important: 17%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 3.51%
- Fairly important: 1.09%
- Important: 29.47%
- Very important: 32.37%
- Extremely important: 33.57%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 24.1%
- Very little freedom: 6.67%
- Limited freedom: 21.66%
- Some freedom: 18.93%
- A lot of freedom: 28.64%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 13.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.26%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 7.26%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.62%
- Every day: 53.16%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 42.89%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.31%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.55%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.55%
- Every day: 2.7%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 22%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.25%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.23%
- Every day: 14.35%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 51.35%
- Fairly serious: 28.58%
- Serious: 13.39%
- Very serious: 5.71%
- Extremely serious: 0.96%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 37-2012.00 · SOC 37-2012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8