Where Pest Control Loses Workers: Local Pay Against Maintenance Jobs
Maintenance work pays 61.5% more than pest control in Minneapolis but runs near parity in Florida. BLS metro data on where the industry actually loses candidates.
In Minneapolis, general maintenance and repair workers earn a median of $60,470 against $37,450 for pest control workers, a 61.5% premium for a job that needs no pesticide certification. Nationally the gap is only 9.6%. Across 44 large metros it ranges from 61.5% down to -2.9% in New Orleans, where pest control pays more.
The national pay gap hides where pest control actually loses candidates. We matched BLS wage data for pest control workers and general maintenance and repair workers metro by metro, because that is the comparison a job seeker makes when two offers sit side by side.
Key findings
- 11 of 44 metros show a maintenance premium of 20% or more. In those markets a pest control employer is competing against a better-paid job with no licensing exam.
- Minneapolis has the widest gap at 61.5%, with pest control at $37,450 and maintenance at $60,470.
- Florida metros run close to parity. Jacksonville at +8.7%, Miami at +3.1%, Orlando at +2.8%, Tampa at +1.8%.
- New Orleans is the one metro in the set where pest control pays more, at $46,610 against $45,260.
- 6 metros are within 5%, which is where pest control competes on pay rather than against it.
Where the gap is widest
| Metro area | Pest control median | Maintenance median | Maintenance premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $37,450 | $60,470 | +61.5% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $45,570 | $59,670 | +30.9% |
| Columbus, OH | $40,460 | $52,800 | +30.5% |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | $38,740 | $49,520 | +27.8% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $38,920 | $49,630 | +27.5% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $38,330 | $48,860 | +27.5% |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $37,200 | $46,710 | +25.6% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $46,740 | $58,020 | +24.1% |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $47,430 | $58,760 | +23.9% |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $37,410 | $45,380 | +21.3% |
Across the 44 metros the correlation between the local pest control median and the maintenance premium is -0.43: the lower a metro pays pest control technicians, the wider the gap tends to be.
Where pest control holds its own
| Metro area | Pest control median | Maintenance median | Maintenance premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans-Metairie, LA | $46,610 | $45,260 | -2.9% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $45,190 | $46,020 | +1.8% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $44,800 | $46,060 | +2.8% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $44,890 | $46,290 | +3.1% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $58,380 | $60,760 | +4.1% |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $50,110 | $52,450 | +4.7% |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $49,240 | $51,910 | +5.4% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE | $47,260 | $50,200 | +6.2% |
The Gulf and Florida pattern is consistent with what we found on market density. High year-round pest pressure means a deep, established market for technicians, and local pay has risen to meet maintenance work rather than trailing it. Our Market Density Index shows Florida carrying 9.85 pest control establishments per 100,000 residents, the most of any state.
Why this is the comparison that matters
A candidate for a pest control route is rarely choosing between pest control and electrical work. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians need apprenticeships the candidate does not have. The realistic alternative is maintenance and repair: similar entry requirements, more openings, and in most metros better pay.
Nationally general maintenance and repair workers number around 1.53 million against 102,620 pest control workers, and earn $49,590 against $45,250. Our analysis of the trade pay gap covers the national figures. The metro view shows that 9.6% national average is misleading in both directions.
What an operator can do with this
- Benchmark against local maintenance pay, not the national pest control median. In a 61% gap market, matching the pest control median still loses the candidate.
- Sell what maintenance cannot offer: a licence, a defined route, and employer-funded certification.
- Price the gap into route economics. Each technician must generate roughly $560 of revenue per working day, so a wage premium has to be recovered through stops per day rather than absorbed. Our guide to pricing pest control services covers the arithmetic.
- Treat retention as recruitment. In a wide-gap metro every technician who leaves is replaced from a pool that maintenance employers are also drawing on. See customer retention and churn.
For the pest control side of the metro picture on its own, see technician pay by metro area.
Methodology
Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, metropolitan statistical area level, annual median wage for SOC 37-2021 Pest Control Workers and SOC 49-9071 Maintenance and Repair Workers, General. Retrieved through the BLS public API v2 as series OEUM00<CBSA>000000<SOC>13. The maintenance premium is the maintenance median divided by the pest control median, minus one. The correlation is Pearson, unweighted across the 44 metros.
Data limitations
- Medians are not offers. Individual pay depends on experience, licence categories and commission.
- Wages exclude benefits and vehicle use, which differ between the two occupations and matter in route work.
- Metro areas are wide, and a single MSA can contain very different local labour markets.
- Not adjusted for cost of living, though both occupations face the same local costs, so the premium itself is a like-for-like comparison.
- Association, not cause. We report where the gap sits, not why.
Frequently asked questions
Do maintenance jobs pay more than pest control?
Nationally, yes, by 9.6%: general maintenance and repair workers earned a median of $49,590 in May 2025 against $45,250 for pest control workers. The gap varies sharply by metro, from 61.5% in Minneapolis to -2.9% in New Orleans, where pest control pays more.
Why is it hard to hire pest control technicians in some cities?
In many metros the realistic alternative job pays substantially more. 11 of 44 large metros show a maintenance premium of 20% or more, meaning candidates can earn more without sitting a pesticide certification exam. Florida and Gulf metros are the exception, running close to parity.
Where does pest control pay competitively?
Florida and Gulf Coast metros. Tampa, Orlando and Miami all sit within about 3% of local maintenance pay, and New Orleans is the one metro in our set where pest control workers earn more than maintenance workers. These are high-pressure markets with deep established demand for technicians.
What should a pest control company benchmark wages against?
Local maintenance and repair pay rather than the national pest control median, because that is the job candidates actually weigh against yours. Where the local premium exceeds 20%, matching the pest control median still loses candidates, so the route has to generate enough revenue per day to carry a higher wage.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-2021 and SOC 49-9071, metropolitan area level. bls.gov/oes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 561710, for density context.