House Cleaning Price Calculator (Per Sq Ft or Per Hour)

Guessing a house cleaning price leaves money on the table or scares off the client. Enter the home's size or the hours the job will take, and see the price that covers your supplies, your time and a real profit margin.

The job
Size & rate
sq ft
$/sq ft

Commonly quoted base rates run around $0.05 to $0.10/sq ft for a standard clean — a rough guide, not a rule. Bathrooms and kitchens usually cost more per square foot than the rest of the house; if yours does, raise the base rate rather than the size.

Costs & margin
$
$
% of price
$

Margin is applied on top of your costs, the same way for either pricing method, so a $0.10/sq ft job and an hourly job with the same cost basis land on the same price.

Price to charge

—

Base job cost (labor or size × rate)—
Cleaning-type adjustment—
Supplies & travel—
Frequency discount—$0.00
Price at target margin—

Gross profit per job: —.

Quick answer: price = (size × rate per sq ft, or hours × hourly rate) × cleaning-type adjustment, minus any frequency discount, plus supplies, divided by (1 − target margin %). The example above (1,800 sq ft, standard clean, $0.10/sq ft, $18 supplies, 25% margin) works out to $264.00.

How to calculate the price for a house cleaning job

Price = (Base job cost × Type adjustment − Frequency discount + Supplies) ÷ (1 − Profit %)

Here is the calculation with the example numbers the calculator starts with: a 1,800 sq ft home, standard clean, no recurring discount.

  1. Base job cost. 1,800 sq ft × $0.10/sq ft = $180.00.
  2. Cleaning-type adjustment. Standard clean uses a ×1 multiplier, so no change: still $180.00.
  3. Add supplies. $180.00 + $18 in supplies = $198.00 cost basis.
  4. Apply target margin. $198.00 ÷ (1 − 0.25) = $264.00.

Switch the cleaning type to "Deep clean" and the same home jumps to around $351 before supplies are even added, because the ×1.5 multiplier applies to the base job cost before margin.

Cleaning business pricing calculator: per square foot or per hour?

MethodBest forRisk
Per square footStandard recurring cleans on homes you've seen beforeUnderprices an unusually cluttered or damaged home
Per hourFirst-time visits, deep cleans, commercial and post-construction jobsClient may worry the job will "run long"

Both modes above land on the same kind of number — try switching between them with the same home to see how a per-hour estimate compares to a per-square-foot one.

What house cleaners commonly charge

Rates vary a lot by region, so treat these as a starting point rather than a rule: a commonly quoted range is $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot for a standard clean, and $25 to $50 per hour, per cleaner. A deep clean commonly runs 40-60% more than standard, and a move-in/move-out clean often 60-90% more, since both involve buildup a recurring clean doesn't touch. Check three to five cleaning companies in your own area before settling on a number — the calculator gets you close, local demand gets you exact.

Not sure what your own supply and equipment costs really run per job? Track them for a month with our Google Sheets expense tracker, then come back with real numbers instead of estimates.

From a price to a quote your client can accept

This calculator gives you a number. Turning that number into a quote a client can review and accept, then a scheduled job, then a paid invoice, is a different job — one this page doesn't try to do. OwnDesk Cleaning Business Software builds the quote from line items (supplies, labor, subcontractor, equipment) with your own cost and markup, turns an accepted quote into a job in one click, and tracks recurring cleaning plans so a weekly or monthly client never falls through the cracks.

Running a lawn care or landscaping crew instead? The same quote-to-job-to-invoice flow is built for that trade in OwnDesk Landscape.

Add this calculator to your website

Run a cleaning franchise resource site, write for cleaning business owners, or coach cleaners starting out? You can put this calculator on your own page for free. Paste this code where you want it to appear:

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate the price for a house cleaning job?
Two common ways: by size (square footage × a base rate per sq ft, adjusted for a deep clean or move-out) or by time (cleaners × hours × your hourly rate). Either way, add your supply cost, then divide by (1 minus your target profit margin) to land on the price. This calculator does both and lets you compare.
What is a good price per square foot for house cleaning?
Commonly quoted base rates run around $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot for a standard clean, more for a deep clean or a first-time job with buildup. It varies a lot by area and what's included, so treat it as a starting point and adjust to your local market and the specific home.
How much should I charge per hour for house cleaning?
Commonly quoted hourly rates run around $25 to $50 per cleaner, again varying by area and experience. The number that matters more than any published range is your own: what covers your supplies, your time and a real profit, which is what the calculator above works out from your own inputs.
Should I price by the square foot or by the hour?
Per square foot is easier to quote up front and rewards you for working efficiently. Per hour is safer on a home you haven't seen, or one with unusual clutter or damage, because you're not guessing how long it will take. Many cleaners quote by square footage for standard recurring cleans and by the hour for one-off deep cleans.
How much more should a deep clean or move-out clean cost?
A deep clean commonly runs 40-60% more than a standard clean, and a move-in/move-out clean often 60-90% more, because both involve buildup, inside-appliance cleaning and areas a recurring clean skips. This calculator applies a type adjustment automatically when you switch the cleaning type.
Should I discount recurring cleaning clients?
Many cleaners do: commonly 5-10% off for weekly service and a smaller discount for bi-weekly or monthly, since recurring work is easier to schedule and the home needs less time each visit once it's caught up. Discounting is optional here — set it to 0 if you charge every visit the same.
What should I include in my cost before adding margin?
Supplies and equipment for that specific job at minimum. Many cleaners also add travel or windshield time if a job is far from their usual area. Rent, insurance and other overhead are usually spread across all jobs rather than priced per job — if you want that worked out precisely, our shop labor rate calculator uses the same overhead-plus-margin math for a service business billing by the hour.
Does this work for commercial or specialty cleaning too?
Yes. Post-construction and commercial jobs usually price by the hour or by a custom quote rather than a flat per-square-foot rate, so use the per-hour mode and the post-construction type adjustment for those.

Turn that price into a quote, a job and an invoice

OwnDesk Cleaning Business Software builds the quote from line items, turns it into a job in one click, and tracks recurring plans and invoices. It runs on your own computer, works offline and is a one-time payment.

See OwnDesk Cleaning
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Small-business software you buy once and keep. It runs on your own computer, works offline, and does not phone home.

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