2026-07-20
How much to charge for house cleaning
Pricing is the decision that decides whether a cleaning business grows or burns out. Charge too little and every booked job steals hours from marketing, hiring, and sleep. Charge too much without a clear scope and you lose the job to a competitor who sounded cheaper.
This guide gives you a practical way to set house cleaning prices — then use our free cleaning price calculator to sanity-check a range before you send the quote.
Start with your real cost, not a Facebook average
National “average cleaning prices” are useful as a compass, not a contract. Build from your numbers:
- Fully loaded labor — wages, payroll tax, workers’ comp, paid travel between jobs.
- Supplies and equipment — if you bring products, fold that into the job or line-item it.
- Overhead — insurance, bonding, software, marketing, fuel, phone.
- Margin — the part that funds growth and a real owner paycheck.
A simple rule of thumb many owners use: if your cleaner costs you $X/hour fully loaded, a sustainable retail rate is often 2×–3× that number once overhead and profit are included — then adjusted for your market.
Common pricing models
Hourly
Transparent and easy to explain. Best when scope is fuzzy. Downside: clients watch the clock, and you need clear start/stop rules.
Flat rate by home size
Most residential companies land here: bedrooms + bathrooms (and sometimes square footage) map to a package price. Clients know the total; you can still add apts for ovens, fridges, and inside cabinets.
Recurring discounts
Weekly and biweekly clients are cheaper to serve than one-time deep cleans (less relearning the home, less marketing cost per visit). Many companies offer 10–20% off recurring versus one-time — which still improves lifetime value.
Example ranges (illustrative only)
These are ballpark US ranges for planning. Your ZIP code, brand, and quality bar matter more than any national chart.
| Job type | Typical planning range |
|---|---|
| Standard clean (2 bed / 1 bath) | $120–$200 |
| Standard clean (3 bed / 2 bath) | $150–$280 |
| Deep clean (3 bed / 2 bath) | $250–$450+ |
| Move-out (empty 3 bed) | $280–$500+ |
| Recurring biweekly | Often 10–20% under one-time |
Treat these as a starting band. Then check how much to charge with the calculator and adjust for your market.
Price the job you are actually selling
A “house cleaning” is not one product. Scope drivers that should change the price:
- Occupied vs. empty (move-out / move-in)
- Pets, kids, and clutter level
- Inside oven, fridge, cabinets, windows
- Same-day or after-hours turnaround (Airbnb / STR turnovers are a different product)
- Supplies included vs. client provides
If you skip scope, you do not have a price — you have a hope.
Bundle pricing with a real quote process
A number without a professional quote still loses jobs. Pair this guide with how to write a cleaning quote that wins — clear scope, timeline, what’s included, and a simple next step.
Where software fits (without replacing your judgment)
MaidPilot does not invent your market rates. It helps you stop leaking money around pricing:
- Capture every inbound request (optional AI Receptionist) so you do not under-price just to “make up” for missed calls — see what a missed call costs.
- Keep quotes, jobs, and invoices in one CRM so discounts and upsells are visible.
- Follow up on unanswered quotes automatically with AI Follow-Up.
Next step
- Run the cleaning price calculator.
- Write the quote with a clean scope (quote guide).
- If residential recurring is your core, see recurring maid service software.
Want the operations stack behind the quote? Start free with MaidPilot or talk to us.