Pricing is where many cleaning businesses go wrong. Charge too little and you work hard for nothing. Charge too much and you lose clients to competitors. Understanding how to charge for cleaning business services means finding the sweet spot that attracts clients while generating real profit.
This guide covers pricing strategies that work for cleaning businesses.
The Pricing Foundation
Before setting specific prices, understand the fundamentals.
Your prices must cover all costs plus profit. Sounds obvious, but many cleaning businesses price based on what competitors charge or what “feels right” without actually calculating their costs.
Costs to account for include labor (your time or employee wages), supplies and chemicals per job, transportation including gas, vehicle wear, and insurance, equipment depreciation, insurance allocated per job, administrative time for scheduling, billing, and communication, and marketing costs to acquire that client.
Add these costs, then add your profit margin. That’s your minimum viable price.
Pricing Models for Cleaning Services
Different pricing approaches work for different situations.
| Model | Best For | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Initial clients, uncertain scope | Simple, fair for time spent | Unpredictable for clients |
| Flat rate | Standard recurring cleanings | Predictable for everyone | Can lose money on tough jobs |
| Per square foot | Large spaces, commercial | Easy to calculate | Doesn’t account for difficulty |
| Per room | Residential | Easy to quote | Rooms vary in size |
| Custom quote | Complex or unique situations | Accurate pricing | Time-consuming |
Most residential cleaning businesses use flat-rate pricing. It’s predictable for clients and motivates efficiency—the faster you clean well, the higher your effective hourly rate.
Calculating Your Hourly Rate
Start with what you need to earn.
If you want to make $50,000 per year working 40 hours weekly for 50 weeks, that’s 2,000 working hours. $50,000 divided by 2,000 hours equals $25 per hour.
But you won’t spend all 40 hours cleaning. Account for travel between jobs, administrative work, marketing activities, and unpaid time off. Realistically, you might clean for 25-30 hours in a 40-hour work week.
With 30 billable hours: $50,000 divided by 1,500 hours equals $33.33 per hour minimum.
Add costs for supplies, transportation, and overhead. Your actual hourly rate needs to be $40-60 to net that $50,000.
Residential Cleaning Prices
Typical residential cleaning rates vary by market and service type.
Standard recurring cleaning ranges from $25-50 per hour, $100-200 flat rate for typical homes, or $0.05-0.15 per square foot.
Deep cleaning commands premium rates at 1.5-2 times standard cleaning prices, $200-400 or more for typical homes.
Move-in/move-out cleaning also earns premium rates at 1.5-2 times standard cleaning prices, reflecting more thorough work in empty homes.
Factors affecting residential pricing include home size and number of rooms, cleaning frequency (less frequent means more work per visit), pet presence, level of clutter, and special requests or add-ons.
Commercial Cleaning Prices
Commercial pricing works differently.
Calculate time needed by walking through the space, estimating time for each area, and accounting for restrooms, break rooms, and high-traffic zones.
Apply your commercial hourly rate. Commercial rates are often lower per hour than residential because jobs are larger, longer, and often off-hours.
Factor in frequency. Daily cleaning costs less per visit than weekly because there’s less buildup between cleanings. Contract customers get better rates.
Commercial pricing typically runs $0.05-0.20 per square foot for standard cleaning or $25-45 per hour per cleaner.
Quoting Jobs
How you quote affects whether you win the job and whether it’s profitable.
Always see the space first. Photos and descriptions lie. Surprises after you’ve quoted destroy profitability.
Ask questions. What’s included? What are the expectations? Any problem areas? Are there pets? What’s their budget?
Provide clear, written quotes. Detail what’s included and excluded. Specify the price and payment terms. Clarity prevents disputes.
Quote a range for first-time estimates. “Based on what you’ve described, most homes like yours run $120-150 for standard cleaning. I can give you an exact price after seeing the space.”
Raising Prices
Your prices should increase over time.
Raise prices for new clients anytime. Set your new rate and quote it to all new inquiries. See how conversion rates hold up.
Raise prices for existing clients annually or when costs increase significantly. Give 30-60 days notice and frame increases around value and rising costs.
Expect some pushback. A few price-sensitive clients leave. That’s okay—they were often your least profitable clients anyway.
Pricing Mistakes to Avoid
These errors cost cleaning businesses money:
- Underpricing to win work creates unsustainable business
- Not knowing your true costs leads to accidental losses
- Copying competitor prices without understanding their situation
- Failing to raise prices as costs increase erodes margins
- Discounting without strategy trains clients to expect deals
- Inconsistent pricing frustrates clients and creates confusion
Your Pricing Strategy Starts Here
You now understand how to charge for cleaning business services—the models, calculations, and strategies that create profitable pricing.
Pricing is a skill that improves with practice. Track your results, learn what works, and adjust your approach over time.
At the Cleaning Business Institute, our courses cover pricing strategy in depth. We teach cost calculation, market research, quote presentation, and price increase tactics.
Master your pricing. Take our free Cleaning Business Quiz. We’ll analyze your situation and recommend the right training. Complete the quiz and unlock a limited-time offer saving you over 50%.
Price your cleaning services for profit.