Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers: average salary and pay in the UK
Full-time launderers, dry cleaners and pressers in the UK earned a median £23,331 in the year to 5 April 2025, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE): 40% less than the £39,039 median for all full-time jobs.
What the figures show
Just 8 of 382 occupations with a published full-time median are lower.
Median full-time pay: women £23,684 a year, men £22,272 a year.
About 56% of the roughly 16,000 employee jobs are full-time.
Since 2021 the median has risen 34.7% (from £17,322), faster than the 25.0% for all jobs.
The Annual Population Survey counts 26,300 people in this line of work across the UK.
Pay distribution, 2025 provisional
| Gross pay | Full-time, annual | Full-time, weekly | Full-time, hourly | All, annual | All, weekly | All, hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | – | – | – | – | £165.40* | – |
| 20th percentile | £21,601 | £457.70 | £12.21 | £12,055* | £230.10* | – |
| 25th percentile | £21,758 | £459.00 | £12.26 | £13,799* | £246.60* | £12.21 |
| 30th percentile | £21,825 | £464.00 | £12.28 | £14,420* | £282.40* | £12.25 |
| 40th percentile | £22,880 | £475.40 | £12.35 | £17,418* | £368.70* | £12.35 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £23,331 | £483.40 | £12.47 | £20,464 | £417.20 | £12.50 |
| 60th percentile | £23,909 | £512.50 | £12.60 | £21,852 | £462.50 | £12.66 |
| 70th percentile | £24,446 | £527.20 | £12.92 | £22,918 | £481.30 | £13.02 |
| 75th percentile | – | £536.10 | £13.07 | £23,462 | £491.30 | £13.30 |
| 80th percentile | – | – | – | – | £517.70 | £13.52 |
| Mean | £23,453 | £506.20 | £12.93 | £18,570 | £387.30 | £13.08 |
Pay since 2021
| ASHE year | Full-time, annual median | Full-time, weekly median | Full-time, hourly median | All, annual median | All, weekly median | Jobs (thousands, indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 revised | £17,322 | £356.30 | £9.27 | £14,310* | £297.60 | 16* |
| 2022 revised | £17,648 | £384.20 | £10.00 | £15,961 | £348.90 | 15* |
| 2023 revised | £19,827 | £415.50 | £10.92 | £18,013 | £376.70 | 16 |
| 2024 revised | £22,678 | £452.20 | £11.81 | £19,537 | £379.40 | 13* |
| 2025 provisional | £23,331 | £483.40 | £12.47 | £20,464 | £417.20 | 16 |
Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers by region
UK: 26,300 (± 6,300), April 2025 to March 2026.
Annual Population Survey (Nomis)
What launderers, dry cleaners and pressers do
Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers supervise and undertake the washing, dry cleaning, ironing and pressing of clothing, household and other linen, carpets, curtains and other articles. (ONS SOC 2020, 9224)
Also covers: carpet cleaner, dry cleaner, garment presser, laundry assistant, laundry worker, presser (laundry, launderette, dry cleaning), blouse presser, branch assistant, calender hand, calender operator, cap presser, carpet beater, cleaner (carpets), clothes cleaner, clothes presser, clothing presser, collar machinist and collar presser (99 titles in the ONS coding index).
- Receives garment or item from customer for cleaning, checks pockets, buttons, zips, etc. and issues receipt
- Sorts articles by fabric, colour and type and determines appropriate cleaning process
- Removes difficult stains using chemicals or steam gun
- Loads articles into washing and dry cleaning machines or electrically operated drum cleaning machine, operates controls to admit cleaning fluids and starts machine
- Sets and operates drying machines and smooths and shapes washed garments using hand iron or machine press
- Allocates washing machines to customers, ensures correct use of equipment and gives change
Academic qualifications are not required. Training is mainly on?the-job. Vocational qualifications in Laundry Operations and Textile Care Services are available at level 2.
Related
Elementary cleaning occupations (median £25,303) · Cleaners and domestics · Refuse and salvage occupations · salary percentile · UK average weekly earnings growth · Median
ASHE Table 14: 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 · coding index · notes · 15 October 2026