When I started my first cleaning business, I charged $25/hour because that seemed like good money. It was — until I factored in drive time, supplies, gas, insurance, and the fact that some houses took twice as long as others for the same rate. I was busy all the time and barely breaking even.
If that sounds familiar, your pricing needs work. Here's how to quote cleaning jobs the right way.
Hourly vs. flat rate: pick your model
Hourly pricing means you charge by the time you spend. It's simple, but customers hate it because they don't know what they'll pay until you're done. And you have zero incentive to get faster — the slower you work, the more you earn. That's a bad dynamic.
Flat rate pricing means you quote a fixed price based on the home size, condition, and scope of work. The customer knows exactly what they'll pay. You're motivated to work efficiently because the price doesn't change. The faster you clean (without cutting corners), the more you earn per hour.
Most successful cleaning businesses use flat rate for recurring residential clients and hourly or square-footage pricing for commercial contracts. Deep cleans and move-out cleans are usually flat rate with an on-site walkthrough first.
What cleaning services actually cost in 2026
Here are the going rates for residential cleaning across the US:
| Service Type | Price Range | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Standard clean (1-bed/1-bath apartment) | $80-120 | 1-1.5 hours |
| Standard clean (3-bed/2-bath house) | $150-250 | 2.5-4 hours |
| Standard clean (4-bed/3-bath house) | $200-350 | 3.5-5 hours |
| Deep clean (3-bed/2-bath) | $300-500 | 5-8 hours |
| Move-out clean (3-bed/2-bath) | $350-600 | 6-10 hours |
| Recurring biweekly (3-bed/2-bath) | $130-200 | 2-3 hours |
On a per-square-foot basis, residential cleaning runs $0.05-0.15/sq ft for standard cleaning and $0.15-0.25/sq ft for deep cleaning.
For commercial cleaning, rates are lower per square foot ($0.03-0.10/sq ft) but the spaces are bigger and contracts are usually ongoing, so the revenue is more predictable.
How to calculate your price
1. Know your hourly cost
Before you quote anything, figure out what it costs you to operate per hour. Add up your monthly expenses:
- Supplies: $150-400/month (cleaners, paper products, vacuum bags, etc.)
- Gas/vehicle: $200-500/month
- Insurance: $100-250/month (general liability + bonding)
- Software and phone: $50-100/month
- Marketing: $100-300/month
- Your salary: Whatever you need to live
If your monthly costs are $4,000 and you work 140 billable hours per month (about 7 hours/day, 5 days a week), your cost per hour is roughly $29. That means you need to charge at least $29/hour just to cover expenses — before any profit.
Your target billing rate should be $45-75/hour for a solo cleaner, or $50-90/hour per cleaner for a team. That gives you a healthy margin after expenses.
2. Estimate the time
Walk through the home (or get detailed photos) and estimate how long it'll take. Here's a rough guide for a solo cleaner doing a standard clean:
- Kitchen: 30-45 minutes
- Bathroom: 20-30 minutes each
- Bedroom: 15-20 minutes each
- Living areas: 15-25 minutes each
- Floors (vacuum + mop): 20-40 minutes total
A typical 3-bed/2-bath house takes about 2.5-3.5 hours for a standard clean. First-time cleans take longer — budget an extra 30-60 minutes because you're dealing with someone else's level of "clean."
3. Multiply and add your margin
If you estimate 3 hours and your target rate is $60/hour, the base price is $180. Add supplies cost for the job ($10-15) and your profit margin (15-20%), and you land at about $220-230.
Round to a clean number. $225 or $230 is easier for the customer to digest than $227.50.
Pricing add-ons separately
Don't include everything in one price. Offer a base clean and charge extra for things that aren't standard:
| Add-On | Extra Charge |
|---|---|
| Inside oven | $30-50 |
| Inside refrigerator | $30-50 |
| Interior windows | $3-8 per window |
| Laundry (wash/dry/fold) | $20-35 per load |
| Garage sweep | $25-50 |
| Wall washing | $0.50-1.00 per wall |
| Baseboards (detail) | $25-50 |
Add-ons do two things: they let budget-conscious customers pick just the base service, and they let you increase the ticket size for customers who want the works. Either way, you're covered.
Recurring client discounts
Weekly and biweekly clients are the backbone of a cleaning business. The house stays cleaner between visits, so each visit takes less time. You can afford to charge less per visit because you're guaranteed the revenue.
Standard discount structure:
- Weekly: 15-20% off the one-time price
- Biweekly: 10-15% off
- Monthly: 0-5% off (monthly homes get pretty dirty between visits)
A house that's $230 for a one-time clean might be $195 biweekly and $185 weekly. You're making less per visit but more per month, with lower acquisition costs and a predictable schedule.
Quoting commercial cleaning
Commercial pricing is different. You're usually quoting per square foot and the scope is defined in a contract:
- Office space (basic nightly): $0.03-0.06/sq ft
- Medical office: $0.07-0.12/sq ft
- Retail space: $0.04-0.08/sq ft
- Warehouse/industrial: $0.02-0.05/sq ft
A 5,000-square-foot office cleaned 5 nights a week at $0.05/sq ft is $250/night or $5,000/month. That's a solid anchor client for a cleaning business.
Don't make these mistakes
Quoting over the phone without seeing the home. "How much to clean a 3-bedroom house?" is not enough information. The state of the home matters enormously. A well-maintained home with two people and no pets is completely different from a home with four kids, two dogs, and a cat. Always do a walkthrough or at minimum ask detailed questions and request photos.
Underpricing to get clients. You'll fill your schedule fast with $100 whole-house cleans. You'll also burn out in six months. Price for profitability. If someone balks at your price, they're not your customer.
Forgetting drive time. If you spend 30 minutes driving between jobs, that's 30 minutes you're not billing for. Cluster your jobs geographically and build drive time into your pricing. Some cleaners charge a $15-25 trip fee for homes outside their core service area.
To speed up your quoting process, try our free pricing calculator. Plug in your costs, estimated hours, and target margin, and it spits out a price in seconds. Beats doing math on the back of a receipt in the client's driveway.
Quote cleaning jobs faster
Our free pricing calculator handles the math so you can focus on winning the client.
Try the pricing calculator →Pricing is the single biggest lever in your cleaning business. Get it right and you'll have a business that actually pays you. Get it wrong and you're just volunteering with a mop. For more pricing frameworks across different trades, check out our guide on how much to charge for lawn mowing — the recurring service model works almost identically.