Affluent residents relocating to Florida spark job growth with $150,000 positions in Palm Beach

Cleaning up after the rich and famous can be an opportunity to clean up financially.

According to CNBC, the demand for domestic help is such in Palm Beach and other parts of South Florida that salaries can top $150,000.

The May 23 report painted the growth in the need for domestic help as a byproduct of the exodus of very rich people from high-tax states who have found a haven in Florida, which has no state income tax.

The jobs might be much the same as generations ago, when “hospitality managers” or “estate managers” might have been called butlers. There are also openings for security personnel, nannies, chefs and drivers.

But the competition for people to keep things clean is the fiercest, pitting the super-rich who own mansions against hotels that cater to the visiting super-rich and businesses that meet their needs.

Salaries for housekeeping staff have gone from $25 an hour four years ago to $45 or $50 an hour today, according to some agencies.

“I have been placing staff for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said April Berube, founder of the Wellington Agency, a staffing company. “We’ve seen such a boom from people relocating, especially Palm Beach and Miami.”

In Palm Beach, housekeepers can pull in $120,000 and $150,000 annually, with 401(k) plans and other benefits.

“For housekeepers, it’s wonderful,” Berube said. “For us, it’s extremely difficult. It’s a severe shortage.”

Melissa Psitos, founder of Lily Pond Services, told CNBC that one head housekeeper in Palm Beach makes $250,000 a year.

“There is just not enough supply,” she said.

Berube said newcomers often deal with sticker shock when they arrive.

“At first they’re in shock, and they say, ‘No way I’m paying that,’” she said. “It’s even uncomfortable for me to give them the numbers. But when they try to hire someone for less, with less experience, they almost always come back to us and say, ‘I learned my lesson. We are willing to pay for the experience.’”

The job requires more than dexterity with a feather duster, she said, because staffers need to be unseen as they go about their work and understand the nuances of dealing with and cleaning antiques, fine art and other expensive items and fabrics.

A 2023 Wall Street Journal editorial compared New York and Florida, noting, “As recently as 2013 the two states had similar populations, but so many people have moved to the Sunshine State that it’s now roughly 2.6 million people larger.”

Palm Beach is a unique spot, given that it and West Palm Beach placed third in a recently released report ranking the increase in millionaires across America, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The communities had a 93 percent increase in millionaires from 2013 to 2023.

The 2024 Henley & Partners USA Wealth Report put Austin, Texas, on top with a 110 percent increase in millionaires. Scottsdale, Arizona, was second at 102 percent.

The report said West Palm Beach and Palm Beach have 10,200 millionaires, 69 millionaires with wealth topping $100 million, and nine billionaires.