How much to charge for house cleaning
Most cleaners quote a flat price per home but think in hourly terms — and get squeezed when a "standard clean" turns out to be a deep clean.
Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wages for house cleaners in the national average:
Covers costs and tax with zero profit. Below this you are paying to work.
Pays you properly, covers overhead and self-employment tax, and leaves a 15% margin.
Specialised, in-demand, or booked out. Achievable once you are turning work away.
- Effective hourly rate
- $51.62/hr
- Billable hours per year
- 1,440
- Revenue at this rate
- $74,340
- Employee equivalentBLS wage for this work in your state
- $16.56/hr
How house cleaners actually price their work
There is no single right structure — but there is usually a right one for each kind of job.
Flat rate per visit
Repeat residential clients on a recurring schedule. Predictable for both sides, but only safe once you know the home.
Hourly
First-time cleans, hoarded or post-construction homes, and anything you cannot scope in advance.
Per square foot
Large homes and move-out cleans, typically $0.08–$0.25/sq ft standard and $0.20–$0.40 deep.
The mistake that costs house cleaners the most
Quoting a recurring flat rate off a first deep clean. The first visit takes 1.5–2x longer than maintenance visits, so a rate anchored to it looks generous — until you realise you priced every future visit off your slowest day.
What house cleaning overhead actually looks like
These are the defaults behind the calculator. Yours will differ — change the overhead figure above to match.
| Cost | Typical / year |
|---|---|
| Supplies and equipment | $1,800 |
| Mileage and vehicle | $2,400 |
| General liability insurance and bonding | $600 |
| Marketing and booking software | $600 |
| Total | $5,400 |
Where house cleaners earn the most
Median hourly wage by state, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
| State | Median |
|---|---|
| Hawaii | $24.78 |
| Nevada | $21.59 |
| New York | $20.62 |
| California | $19.33 |
| Washington | $18.95 |
| District of Columbia | $18.74 |
| Massachusetts | $18.34 |
| Colorado | $17.90 |
| Vermont | $17.86 |
| Alaska | $17.82 |
Common questions about house cleaning pricing
Should I charge hourly or a flat rate for house cleaning?
Hourly for the first clean, flat rate after. Hourly protects you when you cannot see the job in advance; a flat rate rewards you for getting faster, which hourly billing actively punishes.
How much should I charge for a deep clean versus a standard clean?
A deep clean typically takes 1.5–2x the hours of a maintenance clean, so price it at 1.5–2x — not with a flat surcharge. Baseboards, inside appliances and grout are hour-consuming, not fixed-cost.
Do I need to charge sales tax on cleaning services?
It depends on your state — a minority tax services. Check your state page before you set prices, because absorbing an unbilled tax comes straight out of your margin.
How this calculator works
The starting point is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2024), which reports what house cleaners earn as employees in each state.
An employee wage is not a business rate, and treating it as one is the most common reason home-based operators price below cost. An employer covers half your payroll tax, your benefits, your paid leave, and every non-billable hour of your day. Self-employed, all four come out of the same rate.
So the calculator grosses the wage up for self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings), adds roughly 28% for benefits you now self-fund, adds your overhead, applies a 15% margin, and then divides by billable hours only — not hours worked.
These are estimates. Your market, specialisation and reputation move the number, and every assumption above is adjustable so you can disagree with ours.
Other pricing calculators
Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2024 (released 2026). This tool provides estimates only and is not financial advice.