Florida housekeepers earn $150K salaries —and spill their bosses’ secrets: ‘He was up to no good’
They may know the secrets of ultra-rich families, but high-end housekeepers are paid six figures to keep the mansions clean — and to keep their mouths shut.
“We hear everything,” Ana, a housekeeper from West Palm Beach tells The Post. “Affairs, money, divorces. We know them better than even their best friends know them. I don’t think they even know how much we know.”
But good luck getting them to spill those secrets. “I actually feel like they’re family,” Ana says. “So I listen but I don’t repeat. Not even to other members of the family. I really like them.”
Not that she has always been discreet. “I learned that the hard way in my last job. I told the wife that I saw the husband at Starbucks in Miami Beach, and she said ‘he’s supposed to be in Chicago.’ Come to find out, he was up to no good — and with one of her friends.”
She pauses. “They’re not together anymore.”
A second housekeeper tells The Post she knew it was time to look for another job when she heard her boss talking with his wife about an imminent bankruptcy.
“He was saying that they needed to trim the fat,” she says. “And I thought, ‘I think I’m the fat.’ I was let go about a month later. I was out of work for three days, then got a better job.”
Her current salary? $152,000, plus benefits.
As demand for domestic services have increased, salaries for high-end housekeepers have skyrocketed in New York and Florida, where the elite are turning to staffing agencies to help them find the right fit.
“There’s been a drastic change that started with Covid,” says Melissa Psitos, who provides domestic help through her staffing company, Lily Pond Services. “These are ultra-high net worth people who want the best, and they’re willing to pay for it.”
“If you have a home that’s worth $100 million, that’s an investment,” Psitos continues. “They want smart people managing them. These are people who can manage working with high end marble surfaces, and they’re not going to ruin your imported carpet from Italy. They’re used to working in high-end homes.”
Psitos says that the perfect housekeeping candidate has worked in similar roles for years, learning how to manage households and keep the mansions spotless. For their trouble, they can command salaries well into the six figures — with bonuses and perks.
“I made $161,000 last year,” says Ana, who identified her boss as a hospitality mogul. “Plus a car that I could use to run errands, but they let me take it home at night.”
What kind of car?
“Well, it was a Tesla. But not like one of the highest end Teslas. It was kind of a mid-Tesla.”
But not everything is fun in the sun.
“I work my butt off,” says Ana, who asked The Post to keep her last name secret. “It sounds so glamorous, but these people expect everything to be perfect and they expect it to be fast. They want the kitchen to be spotless, even if they just had breakfast 15 minutes ago. So I’m constantly moving fast.”
Another executive housekeeper — who Psitos placed in her current role with in tech titan’s house — tells The Post that she makes six figures, plus regular bonuses. “I am in their home,” she says, “They need to know they can trust me like a member of the family. I keep things confidential. Do you think Bill Gates runs to the store to get something? No, he sends someone like me.”
As an executive housekeeper, she is in charge of cleaning their high-end furnishings with organic products. “I do a lot of research,” she says. “And they’re happy with my work. That’s why they pay me what they pay me.”
“You can laugh and say I’m just a housekeeper,” she says, “But I’m a housekeeper who makes six figures, plus dental and medical and a 401(K). I can live with that.”
