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How much to charge for house cleaning: by the hour, the room or the house
A first-time customer asks what you charge to clean a three-bedroom house, and the honest answer is that it depends on the house. Here are the four ways cleaners price, what published guides and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show, how a deep clean differs from a regular one, and a worked example you can redo with your own numbers.
Four ways cleaners price
Most cleaners start by the hour and move to a set price per house once they know how long their homes take. HomeGuide's guide on how much to charge for house cleaning, updated December 2025, lists the usual methods. Each one is still hours × rate underneath; it just changes what the customer sees.
- By the hour: $25 to $75 or more, safest for a first visit or a home you haven't seen
- By the room: $25 to $150 or more a room, set per kitchen, bathroom or bedroom
- By the square foot: $0.10 to $0.20 for a regular clean and $0.15 to $0.30 or more for a deep clean, common for move-in and move-out work
- Flat price per house: $120 to $600 or more, set from the bedrooms and the condition
What published guides and BLS show
HomeAdvisor's house cleaning cost guide, updated June 2026, puts house cleaners at $25 to $80 an hour, an average of $50, and $0.10 to $0.20 a square foot for a standard clean. It puts a deep clean at up to $0.25 a square foot and a move-out clean at up to $0.35.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Outlook Handbook has no page of its own for house cleaners; the closest group it covers is janitors and building cleaners, with a median wage of $17.71 an hour in May 2025. The lowest 10% earned less than $13.77 an hour and the highest 10% more than $24.17. Those are employees, and BLS pay figures leave out the self-employed and workers paid by private households.
Your own rate has to cover supplies, the drive between houses, insurance, taxes and the hours you don't bill; build it from your costs as in how to price a job.
| Standard clean | Deep clean | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | $80 to $100 | $90 to $150 |
| 2 bedrooms | $100 to $200 | $120 to $300 |
| 3 bedrooms | $125 to $250 | $150 to $450 |
| 4 bedrooms | $150 to $350 | $200 to $600 |
| 5 bedrooms | $200 to $450 | $250 to $900 |
HomeGuide, how much to charge for house cleaning, updated December 11, 2025. What cleaners charge homeowners, not a recommendation; your area and the home's condition move it.
Regular clean vs deep clean
A deep clean is the first visit, the move-out, the home nobody has touched in months: baseboards, inside cabinets, buildup in the shower. HomeGuide (2025) says it often costs up to double a standard clean, and HomeAdvisor (2026) puts a one-time deep clean at $200 to $400. Price the first visit as a deep clean, then quote the regular visit separately, so the customer knows the second bill is smaller.
Recurring work is worth a lower rate because it's quicker and fills your week. HomeAdvisor notes many companies drop $5 to $10 a visit for weekly or every-other-week bookings. Whatever you offer, write the regular price on the estimate next to the first-visit price.
A worked example: a three-bedroom house
Example numbers, not a quote: $50 an hour, $12 of supplies a visit and a $120 minimum. The house is three bedrooms, two baths, 1,800 square feet. You expect 6 hours for a first deep clean and 3 hours for each visit every other week after that.
The square-foot check is a sanity test, not the price. Here the regular visit comes in under the published range, which is a sign to look again at your hours or your rate.
- First visit, deep clean: 6 hours × $50 = $300
- Supplies: $12
- First visit total: $300 + $12 = $312
- Every other week: 3 hours × $50 + $12 = $162
- Square-foot check, deep: low end 1,800 × $0.15 = $270, high end 1,800 × $0.30 = $540, so $312 fits
- Square-foot check, regular: 1,800 × $0.10 = $180, so $162 sits under the low end
- A one-bedroom touch-up at 2 hours: 2 × $50 + $12 = $112, under the $120 minimum, so the price is $120
Add-ons, condition and the rest of the price
Charge separately for the jobs that aren't in a regular clean. HomeGuide (2025) lists common add-ons: inside the oven $15 to $35, inside the fridge $12 to $50, inside cabinets $25 to $45 or more, interior windows $4 to $7 a window, changing sheets $10 a bed and laundry $5 to $20 a load. Save the ones you offer as lines so the price is the same every time.
Pets, clutter and a home that hasn't been cleaned in a while all add hours, so see the home or ask for photos before you quote a flat price. HomeGuide also says a 25% to 40% margin is typical; a margin isn't a markup, and markup vs margin shows the difference. Check your state's rules on business licenses and whether cleaning services carry sales tax.
Putting the price on paper
In Workeey you set your rates once: hourly, travel, call-out, first hour, evenings and weekends, parts markup and a deposit percent. Save the jobs you price often, a regular clean, a deep clean or an oven add-on, as lines with a name and a price. A quick estimate prices from those, and you share it from your phone as a quote PDF with the deposit percent printed on it. The customer says yes to you directly.
When the work is done, one tap turns the estimate into the invoice, emailed with a pay link for card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or US bank transfer through your own Stripe account; a small processing fee applies. The free plan includes 23 quick estimates a month and unlimited invoicing; Pro is $5 a month and Premium $19 (pricing). Start from the cleaning estimate template, or see Workeey for cleaning businesses.
More for cleaners: pages and free templates
- Cleaning business software — visits and invoices in one app
- Invoicing for cleaning businesses — per visit or per month, add-ons on their own lines
- How to start a cleaning business — a step-by-step guide to going out on your own
- Best apps for a cleaning business — the apps for this trade compared
- House cleaning invoice template — free, with a filled-in sample
- House cleaning estimate template — a free quote sample
- House cleaning receipt template — a free paid-in-full sample
- House cleaning price list template — free, with sample prices
- Free invoice template — every field a trade invoice needs
- Free estimate template — copy it, price it, send it
- Free receipt template — a paid-in-full receipt to copy
- Work order template — the job written down before you bill it
- Late payment reminder templates — texts, emails and a letter to copy and send
- All free templates and tools
How much should I charge per hour as a house cleaner?
HomeGuide (December 2025) lists $25 to $75 or more an hour, and HomeAdvisor (June 2026) $25 to $80 with an average of $50. Set yours from your own costs and the hours you can bill, then compare.
Is it better to charge by the hour or a flat rate?
Hourly is safer for a first visit or a home you haven't seen. Once you know how long a house takes, a flat price per visit is easier for the customer and rewards you for working fast.
How much more should a deep clean cost?
HomeGuide (2025) says a deep clean often costs up to double a standard clean. Price it from the extra hours you expect, then quote the regular visit separately.
How do I charge per square foot for cleaning?
Multiply the home's square footage by your rate. HomeGuide (2025) lists $0.10 to $0.20 a square foot for a regular clean and $0.15 to $0.30 or more for a deep clean.
Should I have a minimum charge?
Yes, so a short visit still pays for the drive and setup. Set it from your hourly rate and the time a visit costs you, and put it on the estimate.