Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 86,800 people employed as pest control workers in the United States. The median annual salary is $37,800. Entry level employees earn approximately $24,980 per year and senior employees earn approximately $61,170 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Inspect premises to identify infestation source and extent of damage to property, wall, or roof porosity and access to infested locations.
• Recommend treatment and prevention methods for pest problems to clients.
• Spray or dust chemical solutions, powders, or gases into rooms, onto clothing, furnishings, or wood, or over marshlands, ditches, or catch basins.
• Clean work site after completion of job.
• Record work activities performed.
• Drive truck equipped with power spraying equipment.
• Dig up and burn weeds, or spray them with herbicides.
• Direct, or assist other workers in, treatment or extermination processes to eliminate or control rodents, insects, or weeds.
• Post warning signs and lock building doors to secure area to be fumigated.
• Set mechanical traps, or place poisonous paste or bait in sewers, burrows, or ditches.
• Cut or bore openings in building or surrounding concrete, access infested areas, insert nozzle, and inject pesticide to impregnate ground.
• Clean and remove blockages from infested areas to facilitate spraying procedures and provide drainage, using brooms, mops, shovels, or rakes.
• Position and fasten edges of tarpaulins over building, and tape vents to ensure air-tight environment and to check for leaks.
• Measure area dimensions requiring treatment, calculate fumigant requirements, and estimate cost for service.
• Study preliminary reports or diagrams of infested area and determine treatment type required to eliminate and prevent recurrence of infestation.

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