Cleaners in New Zealand generally earn between NZ$25 and NZ$55 per hour, with an average salary for house cleaners around NZ$30.03 per hour. Rates vary by city and experience, with higher-paying areas including Westmere ($34.65/hr) and Auckland ($28.97/hr). Commercial cleaners often start around $20–$24/hr, with potential to earn more based on experience.
The adult minimum age, which is the rate for employees 16 years and older, is $20 per hour (as of this writing). This means that as a cleaner, you can earn $800 for a 40-hour work week before taxes. However, there are commercial cleaning companies that pay more than the minimum.
$50 an hour jobs
Denmark took first place in the list of highest domestic workers' wages, Tanzania the last place with only $0.68 gross per hour. An average domestic worker or cleaner in South Africa can buy 0.7 of a Big Mac per hour of work.
But what if I told you that a janitor managed to earn almost US$240.000 per year? That's exactly what happened to Liang Zhao Zhang, known as the “richest janitor in the world”.
New Zealand has high demand for jobs in Healthcare (nurses, GPs, specialists), IT (software developers, security specialists, data engineers), Skilled Trades (electricians, plumbers, construction), Engineering, and Education, driven by population growth and essential services; roles like truck drivers, chefs, and agricultural workers are also consistently needed, with official "Green List" updates guiding skilled migration.
The lowest paid jobs in New Zealand, relative to qualifications and experience, are all in the services sector, with hotel receptionists, waiters/waitresses and bar staff regularly being rated right at the bottom of the scale. Salary guide as at April 2022 (source: Trademe).
Average monthly expenses for a single person in New Zealand are between USD$815-$2,000 excluding rent. For a family of four, USD$2,950-$3,600 per month. This varies greatly depending on what city you live in.
The 20-minute cleaning rule (often the 20/10 method) is a time-management strategy where you clean intensely for 20 minutes, then take a 10-minute break, repeating as needed to tackle chores without burnout, making cleaning manageable and preventing mess from piling up through daily, focused bursts of effort. It's perfect for busy people or those who find cleaning overwhelming, turning a big task into a series of small, achievable goals.
How to become a Cleaner
The top 10 highest paying jobs in New Zealand for 2025
New Zealand has a quality public healthcare system, funded directly by Government, and available free or at low cost to all permanent residents and some work visa holders. It's also available to non-residents, but at a cost (along with the private system which runs in parallelt to the state system).
Yes, a U.S. citizen can move to New Zealand permanently, but it requires obtaining the correct visa, usually through skilled employment (like the Skilled Migrant Category or Green List visas), investment, or family sponsorship, as there's no direct path to permanent residency just for being a U.S. citizen, with initial visas leading to permanent residence after meeting conditions like living there for a set time.
As all the ministry of Jehovah's Witnesses is voluntary it was necessary for me to find part-time paid employment; so I became a window-cleaner. Many of my window cleaning customers asked why I was doing this work and this gave me many opportunities to explain the work that my heart was really in.
What is the hardest cleaning job?