Pest Control Technician
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Pest Control Technician controls problems with unwanted animals and insects in residences, commercial buildings and the areas around them. Inspects buildings, identifies pests and determines pest control treatment. Provides applications of chemical pesticides and sets traps or bait. Makes minor building repairs as needed to keep pests out.
Job Outlook
There were 1409 Pest Control Technician job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 29636 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Pest Control Technician industry, which includes the Pest Control Technician career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Pest Control Technician jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $40,406.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $39,698.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Pest Control Technician postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $36,426.
Education and Experience
Posted Pest Control Technician jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 2.7% |
| Master's Degree | 0.45% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.15% |
| Other | 60.14% |
Posted Pest Control Technician jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 92.6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 6.7% |
| 6 to 8 years | 0.4% |
| 9+ years | 0.3% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Pest Control Technician positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Customer Service (39.77%)
- Good Driving Record (33.16%)
- Sales (29.85%)
- Management (26.91%)
- Communication (26%)
- Detail Oriented (23.59%)
- Problem Solving (17.62%)
- Writing (10.61%)
- Time Management (10.41%)
- Lifting Ability (8.6%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Pest Control (90.67%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- General Mathematics (8.15%)
- Customer Relationship Building (8.2%)
- Construction (3.68%)
- Pesticides (5.54%)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (14.31%)
- Balancing (Ledger/Billing) (8.93%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Pest Control (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Pest Control Technician skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Termite Technician
- Pest Technician
- Pest Control Service Technician
- Mosquito Control Technician
- Pest Control Specialist
- Commercial Pest Control Technician
- Termite Pest Control Technician
- Pest Control Service Professional
- Pest Control Route Technician
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Pest Control Technician jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Orkin (2674)
- Rentokil Initial (2382)
- Terminix (1983)
- Hawx Services (1703)
- Ecolab (761)
- Arrow Exterminators (689)
- Ecoshield Pest Solutions (585)
- Massey Services (505)
- HomeTeam Pest Defense (432)
- Aptive Environmental (389)
North Carolina
- Hawx Services (188)
- Orkin (127)
- Go-Forth Pest Control (127)
- Terminix Service (96)
- HomeTeam Pest Defense (54)
- Rentokil Initial (39)
- Aptive Environmental (36)
- Massey Services (31)
- Home Paramount Pest Control (28)
- Arrow Exterminators (21)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- General Horticulture Undergraduate Certificates
- Horticultural Science Graduate Certificates
- Horticultural Science Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.