Professional Organizer Salary + How to Become a Professional Organizer

What do professional organizers actually do, and what does a professional organizer’s salary look like?

Between Marie Kondo, The Home Edit, and a plethora of others out there, we’ve all become intimately familiar with professional organizers.

How do they make any space, from a home office to jam-packed closet or a cluttered garage, look more organized and inviting?

That’s the secret of being a professional organizer.

With that said, how does one get into a professional organizing career? What kind of income does a career in organization generate? Continue reading to learn more about the average professional organizer’s salary and what this career entails.

How to Become a Professional Organizer

Necessary Skills for a Professional Organizer

It comes with the job title, but to make this abundantly clear, a professional organizer needs to be organized and extremely detail-oriented.

In addition to immaculate organization skills, a professional organizer must have excellent time management, space management, and must be able to evaluate clients’ needs and personal preferences to organize spaces based on each project’s unique requirements.

Pro Tip: A very important skill for every professional organizer is sensitivity and understanding. When working with client’s personal items, every professional organizer must be able to treat each item with care, regardless of whether it may seem like “junk” to their own eye.

Responsibilities of a Professional Organizer

According to FirstHand, professional organizers declutter and rearrange spaces, rooms, homes, or offices for clients to create organization out of chaos and clutter.

Professional organizers also may sort through items, documents, photographs, collections, memorabilia, and similar belongings to create systems and environments that are tidy, organized, clutter-free, and functional.

Requirements for Professional Organizers

While there are no requirements to get started as a professional organizer, The National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) does have requirements to become a certified professional organizer. 

NAPO’s CPO requirements are as follows:

• You must have a minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent.
• You must be able to provide documentation of 1,500 hours of paid work experience as a professional organizer within five years before applying.
• You must adhere to the highest ethical standards, as reflected in the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers (BCPO) Code of Ethics for Certified Professional Organizers.
• You must pass the standardized exam, which consists of 125 multiple choice questions that must be completed within two hours.

Certifications for Professional Organizers

NAPO offers online courses, as well as a Certified Professional Organizer® (CPO®) certification. The certification is said to  help “differentiate yourself from the competition, and demonstrate that you are on the cutting edge of your industry.”

The NAPO website states that “to be eligible to sit for the CPO examination, you must have prior paid work experience in the organizing profession. Paid work experience may include (but is not limited to) on-site organizing, coaching, consulting, training, virtual organizing, interactive workshops, and speaking engagements. [This experience should show how you’ve] transferred, taught or demonstrated organizing skills.”

What is a Professional Organizer’s Salary?

According to salary.com, the average salary for a professional organizer in the United States is $49,020 as of August 29, 2022, but the salary range typically falls between $43,108 and $55,849.

ZipRecruiter estimates that the average weekly pay for a professional organizer job in the US is $856 a week. However, this depends on the hourly rate you charge, which can largely change based on location and years of experience.

How to Increase Your Compensation as a Professional Organizer

While certifications and specialized training can increase the clout behind your name, they are not completely necessary.

Your ability to assess clients’ needs and meet their personal preferences is the key to increasing your compensation as a professional organizer. If you have a particular area of expertise that makes you unique, that’s something you can highlight to market yourself in a niche area.

Putting yourself out there on social media can help increase your brand awareness to increase your client base. Additionally, this can help improve your recognition if you provide prospective clients with useful resources to help with space management or other helpful organizing extras.

How to Find a High-Paying Job in Professional Organization

NAPO’s resource guide suggests connecting with other professionals through the NAPO online member community (POINT) for resources, including peer-to-peer referrals, advice, and industry insights. You can join one of NAPO’s 30 chapters nationwide for local events, education, volunteer opportunities, or the virtual chapter.

Additionally, promote your services to local community members, family members, and friends. The more people who know about your services, the better!

Consider doing an online search for professional organizer jobs. When you’re just starting, it might be more beneficial to work for someone else before launching your own business. Working for an established company can provide a stable salary and on-the-job education, which you can take with you if you decide to launch your own professional organizing business. 

Other Questions About Professional Organizers

If you’re trying to go into the professional organizing career path, consider questions such as what kind of supplies you’ll need, if you will charge your clients for the supplies or if you’ll charge a high enough overhead rate to cover the cost of supplies for the project.

Supplies for Professional Organizers:

• Bags, storage items
• Markers, post-its, labels
• Tools
• Personal protective equipment (ie. masks, gloves, and a first aid kit)

If you want to keep supplies on hand, you may need a storage unit which could lead to additional expenses.

Ask yourself what kind of budget you need to stay within to make a profit that aligns with your goals. You should also consider if you’ll charge an additional hourly rate for shopping and purchasing the required equipment for the project.

Furthermore, you’ll want to ask yourself the question of capacity and if you’ll need to hire assistant organizers to help you.

If you’re looking for more resources on becoming a professional organizer, check out these informative resources and blogs.

• My Space Matters
• Pro Organizer Studio
• Metropolitan Organizing

This article was written by The Salary Project writer, Michele Lando.