Pricing
How to price house cleaning jobs (with a worked example)
Quick answer
Time your team in each home, multiply labor hours (including driving) by the real hourly cost plus overhead, add supplies and divide by one minus your margin. Price the first clean separately, because it takes longer than recurring visits.
Say a new customer books a biweekly clean for a three-bedroom house. The first visit takes your team almost twice as long as you planned: dust on every baseboard, a shower that has not been scrubbed in months, an oven nobody mentioned. If you quoted one flat price for every visit, that first clean just ate the profit of the next four.
House cleaning is repeat work, which is what makes it a good business. It also means a pricing mistake repeats every week or two. This guide shows how to price a recurring clean and a first clean from your own time and costs, with a worked example.
Three ways to charge
| Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly per cleaner | Rate × cleaners × hours | New customers, unusual homes, move-out cleans |
| Flat price per visit | One price for an agreed list of tasks | Recurring customers once you know the home |
| By size or rooms | Price by bedrooms, bathrooms or square footage | Quoting quickly over the phone or online |
Most cleaning businesses end up using a mix: a flat price for recurring visits, a separate price for the first clean, and an hourly rate for jobs that do not fit the list. All three come from the same numbers.
Step 1: know what a cleaning hour costs you
The cost of an hour of cleaning is more than the cleaner's wage. On top of it you pay payroll taxes, workers' compensation and any benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that across private employers, wages are about 70 percent of total compensation cost. So a quick estimate of the real cost is the wage divided by 0.70.
Let's say you pay $18 an hour. The real cost is about $18 ÷ 0.70 = $25.71 an hour. That is an example figure; use your own wage and payroll costs once you have them. The complete pricing guide explains the method in more detail.
Then add overhead: insurance, vehicles, phone, scheduling software, advertising, accounting. If your monthly overhead is $1,800 and your team bills about 300 cleaning hours a month, each hour carries $1,800 ÷ 300 = $6.00 of overhead.
Step 2: time the homes you clean
Your own timings are the most valuable numbers in a cleaning business. For the first few months, write down for every visit:
- the size of the home (bedrooms, bathrooms, rough square footage)
- how many cleaners and how long each worked
- whether it was a first clean or a recurring one
- anything unusual: pets, clutter, extra rooms, special requests
After a few dozen visits, you will know how long your team takes for a typical home of each size. That beats any chart, because it reflects your people, your checklist and your standards.
Step 3: a worked recurring clean
Picture a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on a biweekly schedule. Your timings say two cleaners need about two hours each on site, plus half an hour each of driving.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Labor hours | 2 cleaners × (2 h on site + 0.5 h drive) | 5 h |
| Hourly cost | 5 h × ($25.71 labor + $6.00 overhead) | $158.55 |
| Supplies | Products, cloths, bags, vacuum wear | $8.00 |
| Total cost | $166.55 | |
| Price at 20 % margin | $166.55 ÷ 0.80 | $208.19 |
Round it to $210 per visit. The division by 0.80 keeps 20 percent of the price as profit; adding 20 percent to cost would keep less, as markup vs margin explains.
Step 4: price the first clean separately
The first visit is almost always longer, because it catches up on everything that was not done before. Price it on its own, based on your timings for first cleans.
Say your records show that first cleans take 1.8 times as long on site. For the same home: 2 cleaners × 3.6 hours on site, plus the same hour of driving, is 8.2 labor hours.
- Cost: 8.2 h × $31.71 = $260.02, plus $15 of supplies = $275.02
- Price at 20 % margin: $275.02 ÷ 0.80 = $343.78, so about $345
Explain it to the customer simply: the first clean brings the home to a standard that the recurring visits can keep. Most customers accept it when it is said up front.
How frequency changes the price
A home cleaned every week takes less time per visit than one cleaned once a month. Instead of guessing a discount, let your timings decide. If monthly visits take noticeably longer, price them from those hours. Customers see a lower price for more frequent service, and you are paid for the time you actually spend.
Write down what is included
A clear checklist protects your price. List what a standard visit includes (kitchen surfaces and appliance fronts, bathrooms, dusting, floors, beds if requested) and what is extra:
- inside the oven or fridge
- inside cabinets
- interior windows
- laundry and dishes
- heavy clutter or post-party cleanups
Price the extras from your timings too. A customer who asks for "just the inside of the fridge" every visit is asking for twenty minutes of work.
Safety with cleaning products
If you have employees, OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires employers with hazardous chemicals in the workplace to keep labels and safety data sheets for the products workers use, and to train them to handle the products appropriately. Many common cleaning products are covered, so build that training into onboarding.
What to do next
Start timing every visit this week, even if you already have customers. Then rebuild one recurring price with the steps above, or check it with the job price calculator. If you are still setting up, the guide to starting a cleaning business and the startup costs guide cover the steps before the first customer.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge per hour or per visit for house cleaning?
Many cleaning businesses charge hourly for the first visit or unusual jobs and a flat price per visit for recurring customers, once they know how long the home takes.
Why should the first clean cost more?
Because it usually takes much longer, catching up on everything that was not done before. Pricing it separately keeps the recurring price fair and profitable.
How do I price weekly vs monthly cleaning?
Use your timings: homes cleaned less often usually take longer per visit, so their price per visit should reflect those extra hours.