How Much to Charge for House Cleaning (With Real Numbers)

Most cleaners start by charging what a friend charges, or what they find on a forum. It works until you notice that one $140 home takes you two hours and another $140 home takes four. Here is how much to charge for house cleaning so every home on your week pays.

Step 1: know what your hour has to earn

Add up a normal month of costs:

• Your pay (and your helper's, plus payroll taxes if they are employees)
• Gas and car costs
• Supplies, which run about 3 to 5 percent of revenue
• Insurance and bond
• Phone, software and marketing

Divide by the hours you actually clean in a month, not the hours in the car. If your costs and the pay you want come to $4,800 a month and you clean 120 hours, every cleaning hour needs to bring in at least $40. Most small companies land between $40 and $65 per cleaner hour in what they charge.

Step 2: time your homes

Clean a few homes and write down the real time, door to door. For a standard recurring cleaning, one experienced cleaner usually needs:

• 1 bedroom, 1 bath: 1.5 to 2 hours
• 2 bedrooms, 2 baths: 2 to 2.5 hours
• 3 bedrooms, 2 baths: 2.5 to 3.5 hours
• 4 bedrooms, 3 baths: 3.5 to 5 hours

A first cleaning or a deep clean takes 1.5 to 2 times longer.

Step 3: turn time into a flat price

Clients do not want an hourly bill. They want to know what Tuesday costs. So multiply the time by your hourly target and round to a clean number. At $50 an hour, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home that takes 3.25 hours becomes about $160.

Then build a simple price list by bedrooms, with bathrooms on top:

• Base price for the visit: $100 to $140
• Each bedroom: $20 to $35
• Each bathroom beyond the first or second: $20 to $30

That is the same structure our house cleaning cost calculator uses, and why prices by bedrooms work: they are quick, honest and easy for the client to understand.

Typical house cleaning prices in the US

For a standard cleaning by an insured company, most markets fall in these ranges:

• 1 to 2 bedrooms: $100 to $180
• 3 bedrooms, 2 baths: $150 to $250
• 4 bedrooms, 3 baths: $200 to $320
• Deep cleaning: 1.5 to 2 times the standard price
• Move-in or move-out: about 2 times the standard price

Big metros like Miami, Boston or New York run higher; small towns lower. If you are always the cheapest on every quote, you are probably charging too little.

Step 4: recurring discounts

Recurring homes are faster because they never fall far behind, so they deserve a lower price per visit. Common discounts off the one-time price:

• Weekly: 15 to 20 percent
• Every two weeks: 10 to 15 percent
• Monthly: 0 to 5 percent

Show both numbers: the price per cleaning and the monthly total. "$165 every two weeks, about $358 a month" is easier to say yes to than a list. See how to sell weekly and biweekly cleaning plans.

Step 5: charge for the extras

These take real time and most new cleaners give them away:

• Inside the fridge: $30 to $50
• Inside the oven: $30 to $50
• Interior windows: $40 to $80
• Baseboards: $30 to $60
• Inside cabinets: $40 to $80
• Laundry or changing sheets beyond one bed: $15 to $30
• Heavy pet hair: $20 to $40

Step 6: raise prices once a year

Raise recurring prices 3 to 5 percent every January, with a short note a month ahead. Most clients accept it without a word. Waiting three years and jumping 20 percent loses clients.

Show your prices online

People searching "how much to charge for house cleaning" are often your future competitors. People searching "house cleaning prices" are your future clients, and they want a number before they call. A calculator on your site that prices by bedrooms, extras and frequency turns those visitors into booked cleanings while you work. See the estimate calculator.