How to become a street cleaner
Official title: Street cleaners
Also called: Road cleaner, Street cleaner, Street orderly, Street sweeper, Highways cleaner, Environmental cleaner, Street cleansing operative, Road orderly, Road sweeper, Litter picker, Market attendant, Cleansing operative
Street cleaners clean, sweep and remove refuse from public thoroughfares.
Main tasks
- Sweeps pavements, gutters and roadways with hand broom or mechanical sweeper
- Collects litter using hand tools
- Transfers refuse into containers and empties public litter bins into containers.
How to become one
No academic qualifications are required. On-the-job training is provided. Vocational qualifications in Cleaning and Support Services Skills are available at levels 1 and 2.
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £27,633 a year
- About 13,000 people work in this job now, and about 12,600 are projected by 2035. (-3.7%)
Related jobs
- Window cleaners
- Cleaners and domestics
- Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers
- Refuse and salvage occupations
- Vehicle valeters and cleaners
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Questions people ask
How do I become a street cleaner?
No academic qualifications are required. On-the-job training is provided. Vocational qualifications in Cleaning and Support Services Skills are available at levels 1 and 2.
How much does a street cleaner earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £27,633 a year (Office for National Statistics).
Is a street cleaner a growing career in the UK?
Employment is projected to fall 4% by 2035, from about 13,000 to about 12,600 people (Department for Education).
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03