The Industry’s July: Pest Control Employment by Month
The US pest control industry employs 141,809 people in January and 159,456 in July. That is a swing of 11.6 per cent, and it is spread very unevenly: Wisconsin’s employment moves 35.6 per cent between its highest and lowest month, while Hawaii’s moves 3.3 per cent. The industry talks about seasonality constantly and almost never measures it. These figures come from federal payroll counts, industry-wide, month by month.
Every operator north of the Mason-Dixon line knows the summer is the business. What has not been published, as far as we can find, is how large that swing actually is and how much it differs by state, which is the number that decides hiring, cash flow and whether a route can support a year-round technician.
The national shape
Employment builds from a January trough, rises through spring, peaks in July and falls away through the autumn. The peak-to-trough gap is 17,647 jobs, or 11.6 per cent of average employment.
That is a real but moderate swing at national level, and it conceals the thing that matters, which is that the national figure is an average of two very different industries.
Two industries in one
| State | Peak-to-trough swing | Peak month |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 35.6% | June |
| Michigan | 35.2% | August |
| Massachusetts | 31.0% | June |
| Minnesota | 29.7% | July |
| Hawaii | 3.3% | November |
| Alabama | 5.1% | August |
| Arizona | 5.7% | August |
| California | 5.7% | August |
| Florida | 7.5% | August |
In the northern tier, a third of the workforce arrives and leaves each year. In the southern and coastal states, the business is close to flat. Florida, the largest pest control employer in the country at 20,181 people, swings 7.5 per cent. Wisconsin, with 1,459, swings nearly five times as widely.
Two smaller states are more extreme still. Alaska’s employment swings 78.3 per cent and Wyoming’s 38.9 per cent, though with 58 and 82 employees respectively those are small samples where a single firm’s hiring moves the percentage.
What follows from a 35 per cent swing
- Recruitment is a spring problem, and it repeats annually. A northern operator is not hiring to grow, but hiring to refill. That is a different and more expensive exercise, and it explains why turnover in this industry looks so severe in the national statistics.
- Training cost never amortises. A technician hired in April and gone in October has to be recertified and retrained next spring, or replaced.
- Cash flow follows the curve with a lag. Contract revenue smooths it, one-off work does not, and the states with the sharpest swing are exactly the ones where annual plans are hardest to sell.
- Mosquito-led businesses are the sharp end. Any model built on a single warm-weather pest inherits the region’s seasonality rather than the industry’s average.
- The southern market is a different business. Year-round pressure supports year-round staffing and recurring contracts, which is part of why the density of firms is so much higher there.
The recruitment side of this is covered in hiring pest control technicians, and the retention economics in customer retention. For why recurring plans matter more in seasonal markets, see quarterly plans and monthly versus quarterly service.
Related: the same season measured in work rather than staff, from California treatment records, is in pest control’s August peak, month by month.
It matches the demand signal
This curve is not an artefact of payroll timing. Rodent complaints to 311 in New York and Chicago peak in the same month, July, and bottom out in December, which we measured separately in the rodent complaint data. Pest pressure and pest employment move together, which is reassuring for the measure and inconvenient for anyone trying to run a level business.
For the pest-by-pest version of the same calendar, see the seasonal pest calendar, and for the specific case of turf work, which is more seasonal still, lawn pest control.
How we did this
We used the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for NAICS 561710, exterminating and pest control services, for 2024. QCEW reports employment for each of the three months in a quarter, so the four quarterly files give a complete twelve-month series for the nation and for each state.
We computed each state’s average monthly employment, then expressed the gap between its highest and lowest month as a percentage of that average. States averaging fewer than 400 employees are excluded from the ranked chart because small denominators produce unstable percentages; Alaska and Wyoming are discussed in the text with that caveat attached.
Why this employment figure differs from both the Census business count and the occupational count of pest control workers is set out in where the industry grew since 2019.
Frequently asked questions
How seasonal is the pest control industry?
Nationally, employment runs from 141,809 in January to 159,456 in July, a swing of 11.6 per cent. That average hides a wide range: Wisconsin swings 35.6 per cent between its busiest and quietest month while Hawaii swings 3.3 per cent.
What month is busiest for pest control?
July nationally, measured by employment. Most southern states peak in August, and several northern states peak in June, which reflects when their season starts rather than a different pattern.
Which states have the most seasonal pest control industry?
Among states with meaningful employment, Wisconsin at 35.6 per cent, Michigan at 35.2 per cent, Massachusetts at 31.0 per cent and Minnesota at 29.7 per cent. Alaska and Wyoming are higher still but have too few employees for the percentage to be stable.
Which states are least seasonal?
Hawaii at 3.3 per cent, Alabama at 5.1 per cent, and Arizona and California at 5.7 per cent. Florida, the largest employer in the industry, swings 7.5 per cent.
Why does this matter for running a pest control business?
Because in a high-swing state roughly a third of the workforce has to be recruited, trained and certified again each spring, and the training cost never amortises across a full year. It also makes recurring contracts more valuable and harder to sell in exactly the markets that need them most.
Does pest demand peak at the same time as employment?
Yes, as far as we can measure it. Rodent complaints to 311 in New York and Chicago peak in July and bottom out in December, the same shape as the employment curve.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, NAICS 561710, 2024 quarterly files. bls.gov
- Analysis by The Pest Control Brief, September 2026.
