Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
Also called: Aircraft Cabin Cleaner, Aircraft Cleaner, Aircraft Detailer, Airplane Cleaner, Apparatus Cleaner, Apron Cleaner, Assembly Cleaner, Automat Car Attendant
Wash or otherwise clean vehicles, machinery, and other equipment.
What cleaners of vehicles and equipment do
Typical tasks
- Rinse objects and place them on drying racks or use cloth, squeegees, or air compressors to dry surfaces.
- Apply paints, dyes, polishes, reconditioners, waxes, or masking materials to vehicles to preserve, protect, or restore color or condition.
- Clean and polish vehicle windows.
- Drive vehicles to or from workshops or customers' workplaces or homes.
- Scrub, scrape, or spray machine parts, equipment, or vehicles, using scrapers, brushes, clothes, cleaners, disinfectants, insecticides, acid, abrasives, vacuums, or hoses.
- Inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations.
- Mix cleaning solutions, abrasive compositions, or other compounds, according to formulas.
- Maintain inventories of supplies.
- Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
- Turn valves or disconnect hoses to eliminate water, cleaning solutions, or vapors from machinery or tanks.
- Turn valves or handles on equipment to regulate pressure or flow of water, air, steam, or abrasives from sprayer nozzles.
- Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment salary
The median annual wage for cleaners of vehicles and equipment is $35,830 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $27,380 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $47,610. The mean annual wage is $36,980.
The mean hourly wage of $17.00 is 2.3× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $35,830 → in 3 years $39,400 → in 5 years $42,000 → in 10 years $49,200 (10-year range $42,300–$57,100). The model assumes pay growth of +3.2% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment United States | 鉄道車両清掃 Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $35,830 | ¥3.99M ≈ $25,348 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $49,200 | ¥5.43M |
| Outlook score | 54 | 58 |
| AI replacement risk | 21% Low | 11% Very low |
| Workers | 380K | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to enter (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become cleaners of vehicles and equipment
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as cleaners of vehicles and equipment
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.