Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers salary

SOC 51-6011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$34,890

per year, nationally

Middle half

$30,360–$37,560

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

198,040

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.4%

31,900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$27,440$43,190

10th: $27,440
25th: $30,360
Median: $34,890
75th: $37,560
90th: $43,190

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where laundry and dry-cleaning workers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$39,590	107.0	3,870	0.86×
2	Oregon	$37,800	103.4	1,890	0.75×
3	District of Columbia	$37,790	109.9	320	0.36×
4	California	$37,790	110.7	21,940	0.95×
5	Colorado	$37,680	103.1	3,370	0.92×
6	Minnesota	$37,580	98.6	3,530	0.94×
7	Massachusetts	$37,490	105.8	3,700	0.80×
8	North Dakota	$37,470	89.0	840	1.54×
9	Maine	$37,380	97.0	820	1.00×
10	Vermont	$37,300	98.0	280	0.73×
11	Rhode Island	$37,230	102.3	650	1.02×
12	New Hampshire	$36,860	104.2	890	1.02×
13	Arizona	$36,500	100.7	4,290	1.04×
14	Connecticut	$36,310	103.6	1,830	0.85×
15	Montana	$36,250	94.6	1,030	1.58×
16	Nevada	$36,210	100.0	4,540	2.30×
17	Alaska	$36,050	102.4	750	1.81×
18	New Jersey	$36,050	108.8	6,110	1.12×
19	Wisconsin	$35,700	94.1	3,310	0.88×
20	Utah	$35,690	98.9	1,470	0.67×
21	Hawaii	$35,690	110.0	1,730	2.16×
22	Illinois	$35,220	100.0	8,550	1.10×
23	Idaho	$35,140	95.5	1,350	1.24×
24	Michigan	$35,100	96.2	4,970	0.89×
25	New York	$35,050	107.9	13,020	1.06×
26	Nebraska	$34,790	90.1	1,060	0.81×
27	Maryland	$34,710	105.0	3,780	1.07×
28	Pennsylvania	$34,060	97.6	6,290	0.81×
29	Iowa	$34,050	87.8	1,900	0.96×
30	Missouri	$33,870	90.8	3,930	1.05×
31	Delaware	$33,730	99.8	710	1.15×
32	Tennessee	$33,220	91.9	5,730	1.37×
33	South Dakota	$32,780	88.6	750	1.29×
34	Florida	$32,340	103.4	14,150	1.12×
35	Virginia	$32,140	101.1	4,900	0.94×
36	North Carolina	$31,920	94.3	5,570	0.89×
37	Indiana	$30,930	93.3	3,190	0.78×
38	New Mexico	$30,850	92.2	1,320	1.19×
39	Georgia	$30,580	96.3	5,150	0.83×
40	Ohio	$30,520	92.8	6,990	0.99×
41	South Carolina	$30,470	93.7	3,160	1.08×
42	Kansas	$30,120	90.1	2,160	1.18×
43	Texas	$29,630	97.1	17,030	0.95×
44	Kentucky	$29,220	90.2	2,350	0.92×
45	West Virginia	$28,970	89.5	1,340	1.50×
46	Wyoming	$28,630	92.7	690	1.94×
47	Arkansas	$28,460	86.9	1,640	0.99×
48	Alabama	$28,370	88.8	2,150	0.80×
49	Oklahoma	$28,170	87.8	2,680	1.23×
50	Louisiana	$27,460	88.2	2,950	1.20×
51	Mississippi	$27,190	87.0	1,420	0.96×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where laundry and dry-cleaning workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for laundry and dry-cleaning workers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$44,410	110.4	810	0.56×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$43,610	111.1	2,140	0.81×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$43,310	115.6	2,040	0.67×
4	Napa, CA	$42,600	112.6	160	1.58×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$41,080	107.8	260	0.98×
6	Bismarck, ND	$39,760	91.0	170	1.92×
7	Vallejo, CA	$39,680	108.5	200	1.10×
8	Boulder, CO	$39,430	105.2	160	0.64×
9	Bellingham, WA	$39,320	103.3	210	1.77×
10	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$39,290	105.4	1,050	0.68×
11	Rochester, MN	$39,030	90.8	160	1.04×
12	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$39,000	105.8	1,620	0.79×
13	Grand Forks, ND-MN	$39,000	86.7	100	1.51×
14	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$38,980	100.9	50	0.33×
15	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$38,910	111.9	2,400	1.23×
16	Barnstable Town, MA	$38,820	98.4	150	1.25×
17	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$38,620	105.6	80	0.67×
18	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$38,600	104.8	2,130	0.86×
19	Anchorage, AK	$38,480	105.4	320	1.41×
20	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$38,440	103.7	90	0.55×
21	Salinas, CA	$38,230	109.0	300	1.25×
22	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$38,080	106.7	1,100	0.80×
23	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$38,060	102.4	50	0.80×
24	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$37,910	109.9	110	0.88×
25	Minot, ND	$37,860	87.0	40	0.89×
26	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$37,770	106.9	380	0.75×
27	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$37,730	108.8	340	1.33×
28	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$37,690	108.3	2,820	0.82×
29	Portland-South Portland, ME	$37,640	101.9	380	1.04×
30	Fairbanks-College, AK	$37,580	103.2	70	1.51×
31	New Haven, CT	$37,550	104.6	320	0.89×
32	Fargo, ND-MN	$37,470	90.9	280	1.50×
33	Iowa City, IA	$37,430	91.5	130	1.09×
34	Medford, OR	$37,430	101.4	140	1.21×
35	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$37,390	101.6	160	0.78×
36	Modesto, CA	$37,380	104.1	140	0.55×
37	Pittsfield, MA	$37,340	95.1	130	1.73×
38	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$37,330	113.6	9,230	1.16×
39	Madison, WI	$37,260	97.3	490	0.94×
40	Flagstaff, AZ	$37,210	100.3	220	2.61×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where laundry and dry-cleaning workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.