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Commercial pest control is a completely different business than residential. The contracts are bigger, the liability is higher, and the pricing model shifts from per-visit to monthly or quarterly retainers. If you've been doing residential work and you're thinking about adding commercial accounts, the first thing you need to understand is how the money actually works.
I spent three years running a pest control operation that was 70% commercial. The margins were better than residential, but only after I stopped pricing commercial jobs like big houses.
How commercial pricing differs from residential
Residential pest control is mostly reactive. Someone sees a roach, calls you, you treat, you leave. Maybe they sign up for quarterly service.
Commercial is preventive. A restaurant doesn't call you when they see a pest (if they're smart). They pay you monthly to make sure pests never become a problem, because one health department violation can cost them $5,000-$50,000 in fines, lost revenue, and reputation damage.
That means your pricing needs to cover consistent, scheduled service rather than one-time treatments. The upside: predictable monthly revenue. The downside: you need to price it right from day one, because you're locked into that number for 12 months.
Monthly pricing by property type
| Property type | Size range (sq ft) | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|
| Small restaurant / cafe | 1,000-2,500 | $125-$250 |
| Full-service restaurant | 2,500-5,000 | $200-$450 |
| Grocery / food retail | 5,000-15,000 | $300-$700 |
| Small office (single suite) | 1,000-3,000 | $75-$150 |
| Office building (multi-tenant) | 10,000-50,000 | $250-$800 |
| Warehouse / distribution | 10,000-50,000 | $200-$600 |
| Warehouse (50,000+) | 50,000-200,000 | $500-$1,500 |
| Hotel (per room basis) | 50-200 rooms | $300-$1,200 |
| Multi-family housing (per unit) | 20-100 units | $8-$15/unit/month |
| Healthcare facility | 5,000-30,000 | $400-$1,200 |
These are for general pest management (roaches, ants, rodents, spiders). Specialty services like termite monitoring, bird control, or bed bug programs are priced separately, and usually at a premium.
What goes into a commercial quote
When you're building a price for a commercial account, you need to factor in more than just the treatment itself. Here's what I include in every commercial estimate:
Service frequency. Most food-service accounts need weekly or bi-weekly visits. Offices and warehouses are usually monthly or quarterly. The frequency is the biggest driver of your price, since each visit costs you a tech's time plus materials.
Time on site per visit. A small restaurant takes 30-45 minutes. A 50,000 sq ft warehouse takes 2-3 hours. I estimate this by walking the property during the inspection and literally timing my route.
Material cost per visit. For general pest management, your chemical and bait station costs run $8-$25 per visit for a small commercial account, $30-$80 for larger properties. Rodent bait stations, monitoring devices, and glue boards add $50-$200 in initial setup costs that you amortize over the contract.
Documentation requirements. Commercial accounts, especially food service and healthcare, need detailed service reports, bait station maps, and sometimes digital records for audit compliance. This takes 15-20 minutes per visit. Price it in or you'll resent the paperwork.
Initial cleanout vs. ongoing service. New accounts with active infestations need an initial treatment that's more intensive (and expensive) than regular maintenance visits. I quote the initial service separately, usually 2-3x the monthly rate, and make it clear that regular pricing starts in month two.
Building the monthly number
Here's the formula I use:
Monthly price = (Tech time per visit x loaded hourly rate x visits per month) + (materials per visit x visits per month) + overhead allocation + profit margin
Example: a 3,000 sq ft restaurant, bi-weekly service.
- Tech time: 45 minutes per visit = 0.75 hours
- Loaded tech rate (wages + benefits + vehicle): $45/hour
- Drive time allocation: 20 minutes per visit = 0.33 hours x $45 = $15
- Materials per visit: $15
- Visits per month: 2
- Direct cost per month: (0.75 x $45 + $15 + $15) x 2 = $148.50
- Overhead allocation (25% of direct): $37.13
- Subtotal: $185.63
- Profit margin (30%): $55.69
- Monthly price: $241 (round to $245)
That puts you at $245/month for a mid-size restaurant. Check whether that's competitive in your market using the contractor rate lookup.
Contract structure matters
How you structure the contract affects your cash flow and your exposure. Most commercial pest control operates on one of these models:
Monthly billing with annual contract. This is the standard. The customer commits to 12 months, you bill monthly. Include a 30-day cancellation clause after the initial term. This gives you revenue predictability and the customer flexibility after year one.
Quarterly billing. Some smaller commercial accounts prefer quarterly. You're doing the same work, just invoicing less often. I add a small premium (5-8%) for quarterly accounts because you're carrying the receivable longer.
Per-service billing (no contract). Avoid this for commercial if you can. It turns you into a reactive service instead of a preventive partner, and the revenue is unpredictable. If a customer insists on per-service pricing, charge 30-40% more per visit than you would under a contract.
Specialty add-ons and how to price them
| Service | Pricing model | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Termite monitoring (Sentricon-style) | Per station/year | $8-$15/station/year |
| Bed bug treatment (hotel) | Per room | $250-$500/room |
| Bird exclusion | Per linear foot | $10-$30/linear ft |
| Fly light program | Monthly | $35-$75/unit/month |
| Fumigation (warehouse) | Per cubic foot | $0.10-$0.30/cu ft |
| Wildlife exclusion | Per opening sealed | $75-$250/opening |
These add-ons can double the value of a commercial account. A restaurant paying $245/month for general pest might add fly lights ($150/month for 2 units) and a quarterly drain treatment ($85/quarter). Suddenly that account is worth $420/month.
The accounts to chase (and the ones to avoid)
Best commercial accounts by margin: medical offices, corporate offices, and boutique hotels. They're clean environments with low pest pressure, they pay on time, and they rarely call between scheduled visits.
Most demanding accounts: restaurants (especially fast food), food processing, and multi-family housing. The pest pressure is constant, callback rates are higher, and the documentation requirements eat into your margin.
That doesn't mean you avoid restaurants. It means you price restaurants correctly. A restaurant that pays $245/month and calls you three times between visits is less profitable than an office that pays $125/month and never calls. Factor callback frequency into your pricing for high-pressure accounts.
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