How to Price a House Cleaning: A Step-by-Step Formula
Price a house cleaning without losing money: count labor hours, add every cost, pick a margin, and turn it into a flat rate or hourly quote you can defend.
· 4 min read
Pricing a house cleaning comes down to four steps: count labor hours, add up what the job costs you, pick a profit margin, and divide. Most owners skip straight to “what does everyone else charge,” which is how a busy week ends with very little money left. This guide walks through the full formula with a worked example you can copy.
How do I work out what a cleaning job really costs me?
Start with labor hours, not job hours
A job that takes 3 hours with a crew of 2 is 6 labor hours, and labor hours are what you pay for. Pricing by how long the clock runs, instead of how many people are working it, is the most common way owners underprice a two-person clean.
Add up every cost, not just wages
Here is a realistic breakdown for one 3-bedroom clean. The figures are an example, so swap in your own.
| Cost | How it is figured | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaner wages | 6 labor hours × $18/hr | $108.00 |
| Payroll costs | Employer taxes, workers’ comp, unemployment. Often 10–15% on top of wages, so use your own numbers. | $13.00 |
| Supplies | Cleaning products, cloths, vacuum bags, wear on equipment | $8.00 |
| Drive time and gas | Fuel, plus the cost of getting there | $10.00 |
| Overhead share | Insurance, software, phone, marketing, divided across your jobs | $12.00 |
| Total cost of the job | ≈ $151 |
Illustrative numbers only. Wage rates, payroll costs, and overhead vary a lot by city and by how your business is set up. The IRS explains what employers owe at [employment taxes](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/employment-taxes).
Break-even on that job is about $151. If you quote $150 because a competitor does, you just worked a full morning for free.
What profit margin should I aim for, and how do I turn cost into a price?
Pick a margin, then divide
Decide what share of each job’s price you want to keep as profit. 30–40% is a common target for residential cleaning, but it depends on how much of the work you do yourself and what you need to pay yourself.
This is where owners trip up: markup and margin are not the same thing. Adding 35% on top of your cost ($151 × 1.35 = $204) sounds like a 35% profit, but it is really about 26% of the price. To hit a true 35% margin, divide instead:
That price works out to roughly $39 per labor hour ($232 ÷ 6). The number scales: a 4-labor-hour job is about $155, and a 9-labor-hour deep clean is about $350.
Should I charge hourly or a flat rate?
| Flat rate | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Recurring homes you have cleaned before | First-time cleans, deep cleans, and unpredictable homes |
| Why customers like it | They know the price up front | It feels fair when the job is open-ended |
| Risk to you | You eat the cost if you guess the time wrong | A faster cleaner earns you less per visit |
A common approach is hourly or a quoted range for the first visit, then a flat rate per visit once you know how long the home takes. Flat rates reward your crew’s speed: if they finish early, you keep the difference.
How should I adjust the price for each home?
Square footage is a starting point, but time is what you actually sell. These change how long a clean takes, so they should change the quote:
- Condition: a home that has not been cleaned in months takes much longer than a maintenance clean.
- Pets and clutter: hair, litter areas, and cluttered surfaces add time.
- Bathrooms and kitchens: these are the slowest rooms, so a small home with 4 bathrooms can cost more than a bigger home with 2.
- Add-ons: inside the oven or fridge, windows, laundry, and baseboards should each have their own price instead of being absorbed.
How do I price a first clean versus a recurring one?
The first visit to a new home takes longer: you are learning the layout and catching up on buildup. Quote a higher first-clean price, then step down to your recurring rate once the home is in maintenance shape. Weekly and biweekly customers deserve a discount because they are predictable, but make sure the discounted price still clears your margin.
How do I know my prices are working?
Check the market, but do not copy it
Look at what other local cleaners charge so you know where you sit, not to decide your price. If the market is below your break-even, that is information: cut costs, work faster, or target customers who value quality over the lowest bid. The cheapest customers are usually the most likely to leave.
Track actual hours, then fix your quotes
Compare the hours you quoted to the hours each job actually took. If a particular home keeps running over, raise its price or change the scope. After a few months you will know your real cost per labor hour instead of guessing.
- Count labor hours (people × hours).
- Add wages, payroll costs, supplies, driving, and a share of overhead.
- Choose a margin and divide: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin).
- Quote first cleans higher than recurring ones, and price add-ons separately.
- Track real hours and adjust the jobs that run over.
Where The Cleaners Place fits, and where it doesn’t
The Cleaners Place lets you send a quote customers can approve from their phone, turns it into a job, and builds recurring visits automatically, so your pricing decisions carry through without retyping. Check-ins on each job give you real hours to compare against what you quoted. It does not calculate a price for you from your costs, so use the formula above, and it is built for residential cleaning rather than commercial bidding or pressure washing. If you quote a few homes a week, a calculator and a spreadsheet are enough; the software earns its keep once you have recurring clients and a crew.
FAQ
How much should I charge to clean a house?
There is no single right number, because it depends on your costs, your market, and how long the home takes. Work out your cost per job, choose a profit margin, and divide: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). In the example above, a $151 job at a 35% margin comes to about $232, or roughly $39 per labor hour.
What profit margin should a cleaning business aim for?
Many residential cleaning owners target around 30–40%, but the right number depends on how much of the work you do yourself and what you need to take home. The key is using the margin formula, dividing by one minus the margin, rather than adding a percentage on top of cost, which leaves you with less profit than you think.
Should I charge hourly or a flat rate for house cleaning?
Hourly protects you on first-time cleans, deep cleans, and homes where you do not know the time yet. Flat rates are easier to sell and reward a fast crew, so most owners move recurring homes to a flat rate once they know how long each takes.
How much more should I charge for a first-time clean?
First cleans take longer because of buildup and learning the home, so quote them higher than your recurring rate or by the hour. Once the home is in maintenance shape, step down to the recurring price, as long as it still covers your costs and margin.
How often should I raise my cleaning prices?
Review your numbers regularly and raise prices when your costs rise or when a home keeps taking longer than quoted. Many owners apply new rates to new bookings first and give existing customers advance notice before changing theirs.
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