House Cleaning Prices in 2026: The Complete Rate Guide
House cleaning prices in 2026: hourly vs flat-rate, average cost by home size and city, deep clean vs recurring, and how to quote a profitable rate.
Quick Answer
In 2026, US house cleaning prices average $35–$55/hr per cleaner or $150–$220 flat rate for a typical 3-bed / 2-bath recurring clean. Deep cleans, move-outs, and HCOL cities run 40–80% higher. Below: the exact benchmarks by home size, city tier, and cleaning type — plus how to quote profitable rates.
Average house cleaning prices by home size
Home size is the single strongest predictor of price. These are 2026 US-market averages for a recurring maintenance clean (bi-weekly). One-time and deep cleans are 60–100% higher.
| Home size | Bed / Bath | Recurring flat rate | Deep clean (one-time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 sqft | 1 / 1 | $90–$130 | $180–$260 |
| 1,000–1,500 sqft | 2 / 1 | $120–$170 | $220–$340 |
| 1,500–2,000 sqft | 3 / 2 | $150–$220 | $280–$450 |
| 2,000–3,000 sqft | 4 / 2.5 | $200–$300 | $380–$600 |
| 3,000+ sqft | 4+ / 3+ | $280–$450+ | $500–$900+ |
Hourly vs flat-rate pricing: which to use
Nearly every professional cleaning company uses both models — hourly for jobs where the scope is unknown, flat rate for jobs you've seen and can scope confidently. Here's the decision matrix.
Hourly pricing — $35–$55/hr per cleaner (US avg)
Best for: first-time deep cleans, move-in/move-out, post-construction cleanup, hoarding recoveries. You don't know how dirty it is, so the client absorbs the unknown.
Rules: always set a 2-hour minimum. Quote a not-to-exceed ceiling so the customer feels safe. Charge travel time separately, or bake a 15-minute drive buffer into the first hour.
Flat-rate pricing
Best for: recurring residential (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly). Clients strongly prefer knowing exactly what they'll pay — hourly surprises are the #1 reason recurring customers cancel.
How to set it: estimate the hours on visit one, then hours × hourly target = flat rate. Re-quote every 12 months. Never quote flat rate for a home you haven't seen — you'll lose money on 3 out of 10 quotes.
Square-foot pricing — $0.10–$0.20/sqft (residential)
Best for: large homes over 3,000 sqft where hours are hard to eyeball. Also standard for commercial. Use as a sanity check against your flat-rate quote — if the two disagree by more than 20%, one of them is wrong.
House cleaning prices by city tier
Wages, rent, and insurance drive most regional price variation. Multiply the national benchmarks above by the city-tier factor:
| City tier | Examples | Hourly range | Price factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (HCOL metro) | NYC, SF, Boston, Seattle, LA | $55–$90/hr | 1.4×–1.8× |
| Tier 2 (major metro) | Chicago, Denver, Miami, Austin | $40–$65/hr | 1.1×–1.3× |
| Tier 3 (mid-market) | Nashville, Kansas City, Salt Lake | $35–$55/hr | 1.0× (baseline) |
| Tier 4 (rural / small metro) | Most non-metro US | $25–$40/hr | 0.75×–0.9× |
Cleaning type modifiers
Start with the recurring maintenance price for the home size, then apply:
- Deep clean (first visit or quarterly): +60% to +100%. Baseboards, inside oven, inside fridge, blinds, ceiling fans, grout.
- Move-out clean: +80% to +120%. Empty home, cabinets/drawers inside, all appliances inside, walls spot-cleaned.
- Post-construction: +100% to +200%. Drywall dust, adhesive residue, HEPA-vacuumed twice — always hourly, never flat.
- Airbnb turnover: baseline maintenance rate with a rush surcharge (+15–25%) if the window is under 3 hours.
- Pet homes: +10% flat surcharge for extra vacuuming time and lint-roller passes.
Frequency discounts — how much to give
Weekly clients are easier, not cheaper to serve. A weekly clean takes 60–70% of the time a bi-weekly one does because there's less buildup. That's where the discount comes from — not from "you're a loyal customer."
| Frequency | Discount vs one-time | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 15% | Lower buildup, predictable route |
| Bi-weekly | 10% | Most common — the sweet spot |
| Monthly | 5% | Nearly as much buildup as one-time |
| One-time / quarterly | 0% | Full price plus minimum |
How to quote a profitable house cleaning price
Every job — hourly or flat — should clear a 35% gross margin after labor and supplies. Below that, one canceled visit or a $30 supplies overrun turns the account unprofitable.
Target price = (labor cost + supply cost) / (1 − target margin)
Example: 3 hrs × $22 cleaner pay = $66 labor. $4 supplies. Target margin 35%.
Target price = ($66 + $4) / (1 − 0.35) = $107.69
If the customer balks at $108 for a 3-hour clean, cut scope (skip baseboards, alternate the oven) — do not cut margin. Margin-discounted work is why cleaning companies with 20+ clients still can't make payroll.
What's included at each price point
Being explicit about scope prevents 90% of the "you missed X" complaints that eat your margin.
- Standard recurring clean: dust surfaces, vacuum + mop floors, kitchen counters + stovetop + outside of appliances, bathrooms (toilet, sink, tub/shower, mirror), empty trash, make beds.
- Deep clean adds: baseboards, doors + door frames, inside oven + microwave, inside fridge, blinds, ceiling fans, light fixtures, grout scrub, cabinet fronts.
- Move-out adds to deep: inside all cabinets and drawers, inside dishwasher, walls spot-cleaned, closet interiors, light bulbs replaced if provided.
Raising prices on existing clients
Wages, fuel, and supply costs rise 4–6% every year. Your prices should too. Send one email 60 days before the increase, frame it as "annual rate adjustment," and offer to lock the current rate for 6 more months in exchange for a one-time prepayment. Most clients accept either option, and churn from a well-communicated 5% increase is under 3%.
Common pricing mistakes
- Quoting flat rate sight-unseen. 3 in 10 will be losers. Always walk the home or price hourly on visit one.
- Forgetting drive time. A 45-minute round trip on a $120 job is 15% of your margin gone.
- No minimum. Any job under 2 hours loses money once you count travel and gear setup.
- Same rate every year. Costs go up; silence about it is a self-imposed pay cut.
- Discounting to win. A client who only signs at 20% off will cancel at the first friction.
How CleanPilotPro helps you price and hold margin
CleanPilotPro stores a default price and pricing model per customer, auto-fills new jobs, and shows estimated hours alongside actual tracked hours after each visit — so you can see in real time which recurring accounts are silently eating your margin. The Reports tab breaks revenue down by customer so you can spot the bottom 10% and re-price (or fire) them. See maid service management software for the recurring-route side and cleaning company systems for the full platform view.
Related guides: recurring-job pricing deep dive · payroll guide · software buyer's checklist.