jobfacts

Pest controllers

SOC 2020 6121

Pest controllers investigate the presence of pests that are hazardous to public health or cause nuisance, lay traps to capture pests and treat areas of infestation.

Also calledPest control technicianPest control officerRodent operativePest control inspectorRodent operatorFumigatorand 20 more titles
Typical full-time pay£28,3002025 Provisional
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month203↑ 0.3%on last year · 344th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time pest controllers earn, 2025
£28,300 typicaln/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%Not published
Median£28,300
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £28,300
Scotland!£25,300
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £28,300
Scotland£25,300 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £28,200
  • 2024 £30,700
  • 2025 Provisional£28,300
↑ 0.5% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 203 jobs for pest controllers are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026258
Jul 2026228
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026187
Apr 2026207
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026193
Jan 2026218
Dec 2025107
Nov 2025169
Oct 2025225
Sept 2025238
Aug 2025257
Jul 2025209
Jun 2025212
May 2025340
Apr 2025174
Mar 2025204
Feb 2025215
Jan 2025203
Dec 202499
Nov 2024169
Oct 2024172
Sept 2024185
Aug 2024219
Jul 2024199
Jun 2024198
May 2024227
Apr 2024218
Mar 2024118
Feb 2024108
Jan 2024189
Dec 2023147
Nov 2023161
Oct 2023128
Sept 2023134
Aug 2023178
Jul 2023163
Jun 2023278
May 2023234
Apr 2023179
Mar 2023230
Feb 2023205
Jan 2023233
Dec 2022185
Nov 2022223
Oct 2022212
Sept 2022216
Aug 2022190
Jul 2022226
Jun 2022175
May 2022251
Apr 2022209
Mar 2022334
Feb 2022230
Jan 2022207
Dec 2021143
Nov 2021169
Oct 2021178
Sept 2021162
Aug 2021181
Jul 2021210
Jun 2021172
May 2021201
Apr 2021155
Mar 2021199
Feb 2021128
Jan 2021155
Dec 202099
Nov 2020116
Oct 2020142
Sept 2020125
Aug 202078
Jul 202094
Jun 202067
May 202070
Apr 2020115
Mar 2020203
Feb 2020153
Jan 2020164
Dec 2019106
Nov 2019177
Oct 2019169
Sept 2019176
Aug 2019156
Jul 2019169
Jun 2019205
May 2019193
Apr 2019127
Mar 2019113
Feb 2019115
Jan 2019134
Dec 2018109
Nov 2018144
Oct 2018119
Sept 2018155
Aug 2018106
Jul 2018121
Jun 2018148
May 2018113
Apr 2018122
Mar 2018123
Feb 2018141
Jan 2018144
Dec 2017170
Nov 2017186
Oct 2017144
Sept 2017154
Aug 2017180
Jul 2017171
Jun 2017177
May 2017182
Apr 2017141
Mar 2017169
Feb 2017143
Jan 2017158
Is there a shortage of pest controllers?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
29%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for caring personal service occupations, which includes pest controllers. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London148
Birmingham16
Manchester14
Leicester10
Southampton10
Liverpool7
Cambridge7
Glasgow City7
Reading7
Belfast6
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where pest controllers are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of pest controllers
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–34Not published
45–54Not published
55–64Not published
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent–
Not published
Higher education below degree–
Not published
A levels or equivalent!56%
GCSEs or equivalent–
Not published
Other qualifications!44%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalentNot published
Higher education below degreeNot published
A levels or equivalent56% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalentNot published
Other qualifications44% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: other cleaning activities (144%).

How to get in

Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 56%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

Apply directly

You can apply to companies directly to become a trainee pest control technician. It can be useful to have some GCSEs, like English and maths, though it's not essential.

Experience in health and safety, customer service, the building trade or handling chemicals can be helpful. Companies will offer you full training on the job if you have the right qualities.

Other routes

You can do training courses with the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) and the British Pest Control Association (BPCA). Courses introduce the basics of pest control management and can lead on to further industry-recognised qualifications.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) also runs courses for people looking to start in the industry, for example the Level 2 Award in Pest Management.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

A driving licence may be required for some roles.

Registration and professional bodies

Professional and industry bodies

You could join the National Pest Technicians Association or British Pest Control Association for professional development training and industry resources.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in pest control from the:

  • National Pest Technicians Association
  • British Pest Control Association
  • Royal Society for Public Health

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for pest control technician. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • receives reports from public, property owners and authorities regarding the presence of pests and infestations
  • visits sites to investigate the presence of rodents, infestations and other pests that may be hazardous to public health
  • lays traps to capture pests, and fumigates and disinfects areas to remove infestations
  • advises property owners on courses of action to prevent the return of pests
  • liaises with environmental health officers, housing officers and other relevant authorities where measures on a large scale are required to remove pests
  • returns to sites to examine contents of traps laid and the continued presence of reported pests
  • treats wood for effects of termites, woodworm and other infestations of timber

Skills

  • communicate with customers
  • decide on infestation treatment type
  • follow control of substances hazardous to health procedures
  • identify infestation source
  • perform mathematical calculations in pest management
  • report on pest inspections
  • spray pesticides
  • use personal protection equipment
  • advise on pest infestation prevention
  • drive vehicles
  • maintain customer service
  • maintain inventory of pesticides
  • maintain professional administration
  • manage a small-to-medium business

Knowledge

  • chemical products
  • European pesticide legislation
  • herbicides
  • national pesticide legislation
  • personal protective equipment
  • pest biology
  • pesticides
  • pest management techniques

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for caring personal service occupations, a group of 16 jobs that includes pest controllers.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 20%about 466,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.9 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.