How to Price House Cleaning Jobs (Without Undercharging)

Three ways to price house cleaning: hourly, flat-rate, and per-square-foot. Each one has traps that quietly eat your profit — and I've watched owners fall into all three. This guide compares them with real math, shows you how to compute your true cost per hour (the number every quote has to start from), and walks through two complete examples.

Start With Your True Cost Per Hour

Before you pick a method, you need exactly one number: what an hour of cleaning labor *actually* costs you. Not the wage — the loaded cost. Most owners have never done this math, and it shows in their prices.

Cost component	Math	Per hour
Cleaner wage		$18.00
Payroll taxes + workers' comp (~30%)	$18 × 0.30	$5.40
Overhead per billable hour (insurance, supplies, admin, vehicle)		$10.00
True cost per labor hour		$33.40
Price at 20% margin	$33.40 ÷ 0.80	$41.75 → $42

That $42? That's your floor. Everything below has to clear it — or you're growing revenue while your profit quietly shrinks. Worst kind of busy.

Method 1: Hourly Pricing

The deal: $40–$50 per cleaner per hour, times your estimated hours. Two cleaners, three hours at $45/hr = $270.

Good: Simple to explain. Fair when the scope's fuzzy. Easy to adjust mid-job.

Bad: It punishes efficiency — the faster your crew gets, the less you make. Think about that. Plus customers hate the open-ended clock. 'How many hours will it take?' is the question that kills phone quotes dead.

Use it for: first-time and deep cleans where you genuinely don't know the scope yet.

Method 2: Flat-Rate Pricing

The deal: One fixed price from a walkthrough or detailed intake. Estimated hours × your true cost, plus margin.

Good: Customers love knowing the number upfront — close rates jump. And it rewards efficiency: as your team gets faster, your effective hourly rate climbs. You keep the gains.

Bad: You eat your own bad estimates. Flat rate built on a sloppy time guess = guaranteed loss. Your estimating has to be disciplined, no shortcuts.

Use it for: recurring standard cleans where you know the home like the back of your hand.

Method 3: Per-Square-Foot Pricing

The deal: $0.10–$0.20 per sq ft for standard cleans, $0.20–$0.35 for deep or move-out. An 1,800 sq ft home at $0.13/ft = $234.

Good: Fastest phone quotes in the business. One question — square footage — and you've got a number.

Bad: Square footage ignores what actually drives labor — bedrooms, bathrooms, clutter, pets, soil level. A minimalist 1,800 sq ft condo and a 1,800 sq ft five-bedroom with three kids? Same footage. Completely different jobs.

Use it for: quick phone estimates and move-out quotes — always confirmed with a walkthrough on the bigger ones.

Which Method Should You Use?

	Hourly	Flat-rate	Per-sqft
Quote speed	Medium	Slow	Fast
Customer appeal	Low	High	Medium
Protects margin	Medium	High (if estimated well)	Low
Rewards efficiency	No	Yes	Somewhat
Best use	Unknown scope	Recurring cleans	Phone estimates

Here's the winning combo: flat-rate for your recurring clients (built on that hourly true-cost math), per-sqft for fast phone quotes, hourly only when you genuinely don't know the scope. One method for everything? That's how you leave money on the table.

Free Starter Rate Table

Use this as your starting point — then adjust it to your market and the true cost you just calculated. Your numbers, not your neighbor's.

Home size	Standard clean (flat)	Deep clean (flat)	Per-sqft reference
Under 1,000 sq ft	$120–$160	$220–$300	$0.14
1,000–1,800 sq ft	$160–$220	$300–$420	$0.13
1,800–2,800 sq ft	$220–$300	$420–$600	$0.12
Over 2,800 sq ft	Custom quote	Custom quote	Walkthrough required

How Much Recurring Discount Is Safe?

Recurring discounts buy you retention — but only if the math holds up. My rule of thumb: weekly 15%, biweekly 10%, monthly 5%. Never discount more than the frequency actually saves you. And it does save real money: no re-estimating, familiar homes clean faster, one tight route instead of zigzagging across town.

Real example: that $288 standard clean at a 10% biweekly discount becomes $259. You give up $29 — but you save the equivalent of a $10–$15 trip charge plus ~20 minutes of familiar-home speed. Net result? Still profitable. And that client sticks around for years instead of price-shopping every spring. That's the trade, and it's worth it.

Worked Example 1: Biweekly Standard Clean, 1,800 Sq Ft — $259/Visit

Scenario: 1,800 sq ft home, 3 bed / 2 bath, light clutter, no pets. Two cleaners, 2.5 hours each. Biweekly schedule.

Line Item	Math	Amount
Labor	5 hrs × $42/hr	$210
Supplies		$10
Travel		$10
Direct cost		$230
20% margin	$230 ÷ 0.80	$288
Biweekly discount (10%)	$288 × 0.90	$259/visit

Do the math on what that client's worth: $259 × 2.17 = $562/month in recurring revenue. Ten clients like that is a $5,600/month route. *That's* why the discount is an investment, not a giveaway.

Worked Example 2: One-Time Deep Clean, Same Home — $569

Scenario: Same 1,800 sq ft home, first visit. Inside cabinets, baseboards, blinds, grout detail, ceiling fans. Two cleaners, 5 hours each.

Line Item	Math	Amount
Labor	10 hrs × $42/hr	$420
Supplies		$25
Travel		$10
Direct cost		$455
20% margin	$455 ÷ 0.80	$569

Remember this ratio: deep cleans run about 2× the standard clean. Tattoo it on your brain. When a customer asks 'why's the first clean so much more?' — the answer's honest and simple: 'First visit's a deep clean, roughly twice the work. After that, you're at the $259 biweekly rate.' No defensiveness needed.

Keep Supply Costs Under Control

Supplies are the silent margin killer — too small to notice, too frequent to ignore. Target $8–$15 per standard clean: buy concentrates, not ready-to-use bottles. Rotate microfiber cloths instead of burning through disposables. And track your supply spend per job for one month — just one. Most owners discover they're spending about double what they guessed. Which means their 'profitable' prices were built on a fantasy number. Ouch.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average hourly rate for house cleaning?

$25–$50 per cleaner per hour across the US, with $40–$45 typical for insured, professional outfits. Solo cleaner in a cheap market? Bottom of the range. Insured, bonded team with guarantees? Top. But here's the thing — your rate should come from YOUR loaded cost plus margin. Not from copying the guy down the street. His costs aren't yours.

Is flat-rate or hourly pricing better for cleaning?

Flat-rate for recurring work, no contest — customers like knowing the number, close rates climb, and your efficiency gains stay in your pocket instead of shrinking the bill. Hourly for first-timers and deep cleans where the scope's a mystery. Most successful operators I know use both: hourly to learn the home, flat-rate once they've got it dialed in.

How much should I charge for a deep clean versus a standard clean?

Figure 1.8–2.2× the standard price — roughly double the labor for all that detail work (cabinets, baseboards, grout, blinds, fans). Quote the deep clean as visit one, then drop them to the recurring rate. And never — ever — price a deep clean at standard rates 'to win the client.' You'll train them to expect it forever, and good luck raising it later.

Should I offer discounts for weekly clients?

Yes — 10–15% weekly, 5–10% biweekly, ~5% monthly. A $259 biweekly client is worth $6,700+ a year, so you're buying retention at a price the math supports. One rule: the discount never exceeds your margin on the job. Ever.

How do I raise prices with existing clients?

Once a year, 3–5%, with 30 days' written notice — email's fine. Frame it around costs everyone gets (insurance, supplies, wages) — not your revenue goals, nobody cares about those. Grandfather your longest-tenured clients for 60 days as a loyalty gesture. They'll refer you more for it, and referrals are still the cheapest growth there is.