Labor Cost % by Industry: 43.3% Janitorial Payroll
Official U.S. Census payroll-to-revenue benchmarks by industry: retail 8.8%, food service 30.1%, healthcare 38.3%, janitorial 43.3%, plus a calculator.
There is no universal target. The 2022 U.S. Economic Census shows annual payroll equal to 8.8% of revenue in retail, 30.1% in food services and drinking places, 38.3% in health care and social assistance, and 43.3% in janitorial services. Total loaded labor cost will be higher because payroll is not the same as employer taxes, benefits, insurance, and every other employment cost.
Use an industry benchmark, not one generic percentage. The official 2022 Census ratios on this page range from 8.8% in retail to 44.3% in beauty salons. Your own target also depends on pricing, service model, location, staffing mix, and which employment costs are included.
U.S. Economic Census data for NAICS 561720 show $31.415 billion in annual payroll and $72.611 billion in revenue for employer janitorial establishments in 2022. Dividing payroll by revenue gives 43.3%. This is a payroll share, not a complete loaded-labor-cost target.
Divide labor cost by revenue for the same period, then multiply by 100. If labor cost is $120,000 and revenue is $400,000, the result is 30%. Decide first whether your numerator is payroll only or loaded labor cost, then use that definition consistently.
No. Payroll measures employee pay. Loaded labor cost also includes employer costs not already counted in payroll. In June 2026 BLS data, private-industry benefits were $14.07 of the $46.89 total compensation cost per hour worked, or 30.0%. That is a share of compensation, not revenue, and not a universal payroll markup.
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Open a ready-made prompt to summarize the article and apply it to your team.
Labor cost percentage answers a simple question: how much of every revenue dollar goes to labor? The hard part is finding a benchmark that uses the same numerator and denominator as your own accounts.
This page gives you an official cross-industry starting point. We calculated annual payroll as a share of sales or revenue from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 Economic Census table EC2200BASIC, then separated payroll from fully loaded labor cost so the numbers are not presented as interchangeable.
Note
Quote-ready summary: U.S. employer establishments reported annual payroll
equal to 8.8% of retail revenue, 30.1% of food-service revenue, 38.3% of
health care and social-assistance revenue, and 43.3% of janitorial-service
revenue in the 2022 Economic Census. These are Turnozo calculations using
Census annual payroll and revenue fields. They do not include every
employer-side labor cost.
2022 Economic Census
Annual payroll as a share of revenue
Turnozo calculations from published Census payroll and revenue fields. Payroll is not total loaded labor cost.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, table EC2200BASIC. Percentages equal annual payroll divided by sales, shipments, or revenue. Employer establishments with paid employees only.
Quick labor cost and payroll statistics
Retail trade: annual payroll equaled 8.8% of revenue.
Manufacturing: annual payroll equaled 11.5% of revenue.
Construction: annual payroll equaled 18.1% of revenue.
Accommodation: annual payroll equaled 23.2% of revenue.
Food services and drinking places: annual payroll equaled 30.1% of revenue.
Health care and social assistance: annual payroll equaled 38.3% of revenue.
Nursing and residential care facilities: annual payroll equaled 43.1% of revenue.
Janitorial services: annual payroll equaled 43.3% of revenue.
Beauty salons: annual payroll equaled 44.3% of revenue.
Private-industry compensation: BLS reported $46.89 per hour worked in June 2026, including $32.82 in wages and salaries and $14.07 in benefits.
Full-service restaurants: salaries, wages, and benefits were a median 36.5% of sales in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Profitable full-service restaurants: the median was 34.2%, compared with 42.9% for operators reporting a loss.
Payroll percentage by industry
The Census table covers employer establishments with paid employees. Broad sectors and narrower industries can overlap, so do not add the rows together.
This distinction is where most benchmark pages get sloppy.
Measure
Numerator
Best use
Payroll share of revenue
Annual payroll
Comparing your wage bill with the Census benchmark
Loaded labor cost percentage
Payroll plus employer taxes, benefits, insurance, and other employment costs
Internal budgeting and pricing
Labor share of operating expenses
Labor cost
Cost-structure analysis, not a revenue comparison
Labor cost per hour
Total labor cost divided by hours worked
Staffing and shift-level planning
The table above uses the Census field named annual payroll. It is not a field named total loaded labor cost.
The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation series puts private-industry compensation at $46.89 per hour worked in June 2026: $32.82 in wages and salaries plus $14.07 in benefits. June is the latest quarter available in the series checked on September 23, 2026.
The denominator matters when you use those figures:
Comparison
Calculation from BLS hourly costs
Result
Benefits / total compensation
14.07 / 46.89 × 100
30.0%
Benefits / wages and salaries
14.07 / 32.82 × 100
42.9%
The 30.0% figure is a share of compensation, not a share of revenue. The 42.9% figure uses BLS wages as its denominator; it is not a universal payroll markup. Your payroll definition, benefit package and workforce mix may differ. Use actual employer costs rather than adding either percentage to every wage bill.
Compare like with like. If your accounting report includes payroll taxes,
benefits, insurance, and workers compensation, do not compare that loaded
total directly with the Census payroll-only ratio and call the gap
inefficiency.
Why janitorial payroll reaches 43.3% of revenue
The janitorial row deserves a closer look because labor is the service. The 2022 Census reported:
$72.611 billion in revenue for employer janitorial establishments
$31.415 billion in annual payroll
43.3% payroll share of revenue after dividing those fields
Route density, travel time, contract pricing, rework, overtime, and unfilled shifts can push an individual cleaning business away from that national figure. The official ratio is a benchmark, not a target handed down to every operator.
For a cleaning company, the first useful check is whether paid hours are attached to billable work, travel, training, or coverage mistakes. The second is whether each client contract still supports the labor it actually consumes. Better scheduling can make those costs easier to see, but it does not change the economics of a badly priced contract.
Restaurant labor cost: payroll-only versus loaded
Food services and drinking places reported a 30.1% payroll share of revenue in the 2022 Economic Census. The National Restaurant Association's 2025 Operations Data Abstract measures a broader, newer operator benchmark for 2024:
Restaurant group
Median salaries, wages, and benefits as % of sales
Full-service respondents
36.5%
Profitable full-service respondents
34.2%
Loss-making full-service respondents
42.9%
Limited-service respondents
31.7%
Profitable limited-service respondents
30.0%
Loss-making limited-service respondents
34.1%
The two sources are not contradictory. The Census row is payroll-only and covers 2022 establishments. The restaurant survey includes benefits and covers 2024 operators. Different definitions produce different percentages.
Use the same period for every input. A trailing three- or twelve-month view is usually more useful than one unusually busy or quiet month.
For the other-costs input, enter only employer costs not already included in your payroll figure. Count each expense once; do not add the BLS benefits estimate on top of costs you have already entered.
Compare payroll-only and loaded labor cost using the same revenue period.
Loaded labor cost:
37.0
% of revenue
30.0%
Payroll-only share
7.0%
Other labor-cost share
Payroll alone is 30.0% of revenue. After the other employer costs you entered, loaded labor cost is 37.0%. Compare the payroll-only figure with the Census table, then use the loaded figure for your own budget.
Decide whether you are measuring payroll only or loaded labor cost. Write the definition next to the figure in every report.
2. Match the period
Use revenue and labor cost from the same dates. Do not divide annual payroll by one quarter of revenue.
3. Start with the closest industry
A hotel, restaurant, clinic, retailer, and janitorial contractor have different economics. Use the most specific defensible row, then compare with your own history.
4. Investigate the gap
A high percentage can come from weak pricing, low revenue, overtime, poor coverage, excess management layers, or an intentionally service-heavy model. A low percentage can mean efficiency, but it can also mean understaffing or underpaying.
The overtime statistics page helps separate wage premiums from ordinary payroll. For restaurant operators, the restaurant staffing statistics page separates payroll-only Census ratios from operator labor-cost medians. If the problem is manual admin rather than staffing mix, use the employee scheduling statistics reference.
What Turnozo can and cannot change
Turnozo does not forecast revenue or tell you what your payroll target should be. It gives small teams a cleaner record of the hours behind the numerator:
Weekly staff schedules
Employee availability and time-off requests
Mobile clock-in and clock-out with GPS and geofencing
Automatic timesheets and overtime tracking
Timesheet approval and payroll export
That makes actual worked hours easier to review before payroll. Your accounting system still supplies revenue, employer taxes, benefits, and the rest of the loaded-cost calculation.
Methodology and source notes
Primary benchmark: U.S. Census Bureau 2022 Economic Census, table EC2200BASIC. The table universe covers establishments that operated during at least part of 2022, had paid employees, and were in an in-scope NAICS sector.
Fields used: annual payroll (PAYANN) and sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT), both reported in thousands of dollars.
Calculation:PAYANN / RCPTOT × 100. Because both fields use the same unit, the thousands-of-dollars scale cancels out.
Scope: U.S. rows, all establishments, all tax statuses. Broad and detailed NAICS rows overlap.
Original calculation: Turnozo calculated each percentage from the published Census fields. The source data are Census data; the resulting ratios should not be attributed to the Census Bureau as separately published estimates.
Data quality: the Economic Census combines reported and administrative data and publishes imputation ranges. The calculated ratios inherit that uncertainty.
Loaded-cost context: BLS ECEC June 2026 series for private-industry compensation, wages, and benefits, retrieved September 23, 2026. These are costs per hour worked, not revenue ratios. Ratios are calculated from the published dollar values and rounded to one decimal place; they are not industry-specific loading factors.
Restaurant comparison: National Restaurant Association 2025 Operations Data Abstract, using 2024 financial and operating data from more than 900 operators.
Freshness: the Economic Census runs every five years. The 2022 table is the latest complete official cross-industry benchmark available for this calculation.
