The three pricing models
Hourly. You charge per cleaner-hour. Typical U.S. rates run roughly $25–$75 per cleaner per hour depending on market and service level, with most residential cleaners landing between $40 and $60 in 2026. Hourly is the safest way to start — you can't badly lose on a house you misjudged — but customers dislike open-ended bills, and as you get faster, hourly quietly punishes your own efficiency.
Flat rate. One price per visit for a defined scope — the model most established cleaning businesses converge on. A standard recurring clean for an average U.S. home commonly falls in the $120–$260 range, with deep cleans running 1.5–2× that and move-out cleans higher still. Customers love the certainty; you capture the upside of being fast. The risk is misquoting scope, which is why flat rate works best after you have time data.
Square footage. Pricing per square foot (commonly $0.08–$0.15/sq ft for recurring residential work, more for deep cleans) scales quotes without a walkthrough. It's the standard for commercial janitorial bids and a useful sanity check on residential flat rates, but on its own it ignores the things that actually eat time: clutter, pets, bathrooms, and kitchens.
The practical answer for most residential operators: quote flat rates, built from your hourly cost data, sanity-checked against square footage.
The formula that protects your margin
A price only works if it covers what the job truly costs. Build it in four steps:
- Loaded labor cost. What you pay a cleaner per hour × roughly 1.2–1.35 to cover payroll taxes, insurance, and paid drive time. A $20/hr cleaner really costs you $24–$27/hr.
- Estimate cleaner-hours honestly. A 3-bed/2-bath recurring clean might be 2 cleaner-hours; the first-time or deep version of the same house can be double. Track actuals — your average time per home is the most valuable number in your business.
- Add non-labor costs. Supplies, equipment wear, fuel, software, insurance — typically 10–15% on top of labor for a residential operation.
- Divide by your target margin. Price = total cost ÷ (1 − margin). For a 30% margin: a job costing $70 all-in should be quoted at $100, not $91 ("cost plus 30%" — the classic mistake that undershoots).
Worked example: 2 cleaner-hours × $26 loaded = $52 labor, plus 12% non-labor ≈ $58 total cost. At a 35% target margin: $58 ÷ 0.65 ≈ $89 minimum — and if market rates in your area support $110 for that home, charge $110. The formula sets your floor, not your price.
Price the first clean differently
The first visit to any home takes far longer than the recurring visit — built-up soap scum, baseboards, the fridge top nobody has seen in a year. Charge for it: most operators price the initial clean 1.5–2× the recurring rate, or book it as an hourly deep clean before quoting the recurring flat rate. Quoting the recurring price for visit one is the fastest way to lose money on every new customer you win.
Common add-ons
Keep the base scope tight and price extras explicitly: inside oven and inside fridge (commonly $25–$45 each), interior windows, laundry and linen changes, garages, and post-party or move-out conditions. Pets and heavy clutter are legitimate reasons for a standing surcharge — they reliably add time every single visit.
When (and how) to raise prices
Raise prices when your schedule is consistently full 2–3 weeks out, when your costs rise (wages, insurance, fuel), or at minimum annually — 5–10% a year roughly tracks what your customers see everywhere else. Grandfather loyal recurring customers for a season if you like, but never indefinitely: your best customers on your oldest prices are your biggest silent loss. Announce increases briefly, in writing, 30 days out, with no apology beyond one sentence. Expect to lose almost nobody; a full book that loses 5% of customers at 8% higher prices comes out ahead with less work.
The part software actually fixes
Every step above leans on one thing: knowing how long each home really takes. That's what Cleanr tracks automatically — time on site per visit, per home — so your flat rates come from data instead of guesses. Quotes convert into scheduled recurring cleans, and you can create a card-ready invoice after the work is complete. One plan, $299/year or $39/month. Start a free trial.