How Much to Charge for House Cleaning: 2024 Pricing Guide (2024)

14 Min. Read

July 15, 2024

It can be tricky to give a price quote for house cleaning services because each home is so different. The price will depend on several factors, including the size and location of the house, the frequency of cleaning desired, and the specific services requested by each client. On average, the rates for house cleaning services in the US are as follows:

• $170 to $220 for a regular house cleaning 1House Cleaners on Thumbtack Cost, Accessed June 18, 2024, or around $50 per hour, as per the national average 1House Cleaners on Thumbtack Cost, Accessed June 18, 2024

• $200 to $400 to deep clean a home, up to $1000 for bigger or messier jobs 2How Much to Charge for House Cleaning, Accessed June 18, 2024, or between $25 to $80 per hour

There is no “one size fits all” answer for how to estimate house cleaning jobs, but if you follow the easy steps below, you should be able to come up with a profitable pricing system that works for your cleaning business.

Key Takeaways

• The amount you charge for cleaning services depends on the size of the job at hand.
• Some cleaners charge per square foot, while others charge hourly, or by the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Bigger, more intensive jobs and specialty services like a deep cleaning service or move-out cleaning will cost more than the average house cleaning cost.

Table of Contents

• Average House Cleaning Rates by Type
• House Cleaning Pricing Guide
• How to Estimate House Cleaning Prices
• Simplify House Cleaning Estimation with FreshBooks
• Frequently Asked Questions

Average House Cleaning Rates by Type

The amount of work you do should be reflected in the amount you charge for your services, along with the cost of cleaning products and other overhead fees. Cleaning companies can use the following price guide to determine how much to charge for deep cleaning a house and pricing a standard cleaning job.

Standard Cleaning Cost

Standard cleaning costs cover regular house cleaning duties like scrubbing the bathroom, sweeping and mopping floors, dusting, and wiping down surfaces. It’s often a biweekly or weekly cleaning service that keeps your house looking fresh and tidy.

Standard house cleaning services prices are:

• Hourly: $20 to $50 per house cleaner
• Flat fee: $100 to $170 for a single-family house cleaning job
• Per room: $100 for 1 bed and 1 bathroom, with an additional $10 or $20 per bedroom or bathroom
• Per square foot: $0.05 to $0.15 per square foot for standard cleaning services provided weekly or biweekly

Deep Cleaning House Cost

A deep clean is a more thorough cleaning that must be done when cleaning has been neglected for several months. It may include cleaning hard-to-reach areas, with more scrubbing and dirtier work overall. For house deep cleaning, you can increase your fees depending on the size of the house and the scale of work required.

Deep house cleaning costs are:

• Hourly: $40 to $100 per hour per cleaner
• Flat fee: $200 to $400, depending on the size of the job in question
• Per room: $125 to $200 for a 1 bed and 1 bathroom house, plus $15 to $30 per additional room, with bathrooms having more complex cleaning requirements
• Per square foot: $0.13 to $0.17 per square foot depending on home size and effort required

Move-Out Cleaning Cost

While move-out cleaning jobs are generally easier because there’s no heavy furniture in your way, this one-time job must also meet specific standards and the job can sometimes be finicky.

Standard move-out cleaning costs are:

• Hourly: $40 to $100 per hour for each of the professional cleaners at work
• Flat fee: $300 to $400 depending on the criteria your move-out cleaning service must meet
• Per room: $125 to $175 for a single-family home, with up to 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms
• Per square foot: $0.15 to $0.22 per square foot

Construction Cleanup Cost

Cleaning up after a construction crew is generally easier than cleaning a lived-in home, although you do need to watch for the occasional loose nail. Your commercial cleaning services could cost:

• Hourly: $30 to $50 per hour, per cleaner on-site
• Flat fee: $400 to $800 depending on the size of the job
• Per room: $125 to $175 for an average single-family home
• Per square foot: $0.10 to $0.50 per square foot

Event Cleaning Cost

Cleaning up after a big event can be a big job. A professional cleaning after a party or awards ceremony will likely take extra time and care. Here’s what your company can charge for event cleaning:

• Hourly: $40 to $100 per hour per cleaner
• Flat fee: $200 to $400, depending on the size of the job in question
• Per room: $125 to $200 for a 1 bed and 1 bathroom house, plus $15 to $30 per additional room
• Per square foot: $0.13 to $0.17 per square foot, depending on home size and effort required

Speciality Services Cost

As the name would suggest, a specialty service is an additional service you can add to your regular cleaning routine to earn extra money during your standard cleaning job. In the following table we’ve listed some of the most common specialty services your clients may request, along with the average cleaning cost 3How Much Does Professional House Cleaning Cost?, Accessed June 18, 2024 for each:

House Cleaning Pricing Guide

Determining how much your house cleaning services cost isn’t always straightforward, but this guide can help.

Calculating Hourly Pricing

Hourly pricing is best offered to new clients when you’re unsure how long their home will take to clean. To figure out how much to charge for house cleaning per hour, you’ll have to take time spent cleaning and overhead costs like mileage into consideration, ensuring you make enough of a profit to continue running your business cost-effectively.

The cost of house cleaning should include the hourly wage of each employee, which can range from $24 to $50 per hour depending on their experience level, plus 50% to account for overhead, supplies, and profit margins. Many professional cleaning companies use the following formula to find the appropriate hourly rate for their work:

Hourly Rate = (Hourly wage per employee x number of employees) x 1.5

Setting Flat Rate Prices for House Cleaning

Charging a flat fee is often best when you’re working with experienced cleaners who won’t take a lot of time on the job. Clients tend to prefer knowing how much the job will cost ahead of time, making this a preferred method. When figuring out how much to charge, you should consider factors like labor costs, expenses for cleaning supplies, and your profit margin, with an extra contingency in case the work is more than you anticipated.

A typical cleaning company flat rate for a single-family home of average size will be $100 to $170 per visit, so long as no deep cleaning or special services are required—these will cost extra.

Also Read: Tax Deductions for Cleaning Business

Calculating Square Footage Pricing

Charging a home for its precise square footage can be a good way to ensure you’re giving all your clients fair pricing, but it’s essential to keep your profit margin in mind when building your pricing model. Many cleaning service companies will charge a higher price per square foot for a smaller home or more detailed job to ensure they receive fair payment for the amount of work involved.

For example, you may want to charge $0.10 for a 2,500-square-foot home, but increase that to $0.25 for a cluttered 800-square-foot space. To find how much it will cost for house cleaning per square foot, use this simple calculation:

Square Footage Cost = The home’s square footage x your cost per square foot

Calculating Per Room Pricing

Charging clients per room is done on top of a base fee, which usually assumes one bedroom and one bathroom. So, for example, if the home were a 1 bed, 1 bath, professional house cleaning would only cost your base fee, but if they had 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, you’d add another fee per room onto the final price.

Assuming you choose your base fee to be $120, your additional bedroom fee to be $20, and your additional bathroom fee to be $30, to determine how much to charge for house cleaning per room, you would use the following calculation:

Total price per room cost = $120 + (number of extra bedrooms x $20) + (number of extra bathrooms x $30)

A 2 bed, 2 bath home pricing would look like this:

Total house cleaning cost = $120 base price + $20 for the additional bedroom + $30 for the additional bathroom

Total cost = $170

How to Estimate House Cleaning Prices

Follow these steps to generate a comprehensive house cleaning estimate, ensuring clarity and accuracy in your pricing.

1. Location

Where you live strongly influences the amount you can charge for cleaning services, due to the varying costs of living in different geographic locations.

The following are some average cleaning rates 4What to Charge for House Cleaning, Accessed June 18, 2024 in different (urban) parts of the country. Note that rural house cleaning costs are often lower, but you may need to include travel fees if you’re driving a long distance to serve clients.

2. Home Size

Basic house cleaning in an 8-bedroom mansion will take longer than in a 2-bedroom apartment, which is why so many professional house cleaners will measure the square footage of a home before quoting costs. The following chart depicts average costs per square foot for house cleaning:

3. Number of Bedrooms

Charging by the bedroom will help you ensure you’re fairly compensated while allowing your clients to reduce costs by only having certain rooms cleaned. The following chart shares recent data on how much you may charge to clean a home when pricing by the number of bedrooms:

4. Number of Bathrooms

Charging a flat rate, along with an additional fee per bathroom in the home makes sense for many professional cleaning services, as the cleaning tasks in this part of the house are often the most laborious. In this chart, you will see the average costs throughout the country, based on the number of bathrooms in the home.

5. Number of House Cleaners

House cleaning companies must pay each of their workers appropriate labor costs, which, depending on their experience level and where they live in the country, can range from $25 to $50 hourly per cleaner. For a standard cleaning, most agencies will send 2 cleaners together to get the job done efficiently, making the total cost approximately $50 to $100 per hour. The following chart shows how much you may wish to charge a client who has their home cleaned regularly.

6. Cleaning Frequency

If a home is cleaned by a professional house cleaner every week or every other week, it will be much less likely to require a deep cleaning. That said, if you’re cleaning a home daily, you’ll charge a lot more in a month than you would if you only went once every 2 weeks. This chart explains how much you might want to ask for, depending on the frequency of your service: 3How Much Does Professional House Cleaning Cost?, Accessed June 18, 2024

7. Overhead Costs

It’s important to incorporate your overhead costs into your pricing structure, to ensure you’re not losing money by purchasing your supplies, paying insurance premiums, traveling to the client’s home, or ordering staff uniforms. By ensuring your fees pay the cost of your favorite eco-friendly cleaning supplies, the price of gas while driving to the job, and all other necessary expenses, your business can turn a profit.

Simplify House Cleaning Estimation with FreshBooks

Every house cleaning business has its own way of pricing their services. Some price per square foot, some charge by the hour, and some charge based on the number of rooms in the house. In certain cases, a house cleaner will even give a flat rate.

Understanding your cleaning business costs and creating an estimation process can come with a steep learning curve. You may need to make some adjustments as your business grows and you become more experienced as a house cleaner. This pricing is important, so you can earn a decent living wage.

Need help creating estimate invoices for your cleaning business? FreshBooks’ online estimating software makes generating estimates and converting them into invoices easy. Once you’ve set your rates and sent your estimate, you can download one of our professional-looking free cleaning estimate templates, and start getting paid.

FAQs About How Much To Charge For House Cleaning

If you’re still wondering how much to charge for your professional house cleaning service, the following frequently asked questions may help.

How much should I charge to clean a 2,000-square-foot house?

To clean a 2,000-square-foot house, you should charge between $250 to $500. The amount you need to charge depends on several factors like how many rooms, cleaning frequency, the amount of work it will take, and whether they want a standard house cleaning service or a deep cleaning.

How much does it cost to clean a 1,500-square-foot house?

For standard cleaning, it can cost between $200 to $400, and for a more involved job, the average fee is $240 to $500. House cleaning company prices vary, so you’ll want to ensure the amount you charge covers overhead costs, employee wages, and cleaning supplies, while also leaving a profit for your business to grow.

How much should I charge to clean a 3,000-square-foot house?

Depending on the type of job, on average people charge anywhere from $300 to $750 to clean a 3,000 square foot house. You may want to charge on the higher end for a deep clean, or extra services like appliance or curtain cleaning.

How much should I charge for cleaning a 3 bedroom house?

A residential cleaning business will charge between $130 to $550 on average to clean a 3-bedroom house. The pricing depends on factors like where you live in the country, whether the home needs a deep cleaning, and whether they have requested any additional services.

How much should I charge for cleaning a 5,000-square-foot house?

The average cost to clean a house over 3000 square feet ranges from $400 to $800, depending on whether the client wants a regular cleaning service or a 1-time deep clean. All house cleaning companies have their own pricing methods, ensuring they cover all overhead costs and make a profit.

How much does a house cleaner cost?

It depends, as each professional cleaning service has its own house cleaning rates. Some charge hourly rates, while others charge by the number of rooms in the house, or by the square footage.

Article Sources

1. House Cleaners on Thumbtack Cost, Accessed June 18, 2024
2. How Much to Charge for House Cleaning, Accessed June 18, 2024
3. How Much Does Professional House Cleaning Cost?, Accessed June 18, 2024
4. What to Charge for House Cleaning, Accessed June 18, 2024

RELATED ARTICLES