For a service business owner, pricing isn’t just a number on a quote, it is the fuel for your growth engine. If you price too low, you are working yourself into the ground with zero margin for error. Price is too high without the service value to back it up, and your calendar stays empty. As we move into 2026, understanding house cleaning service prices is critical, not just for homeowners looking for help, but for cleaning company owners looking to dominate their local market.
The cleaning industry is evolving. Labor costs are shifting, demand for specialized sanitization is standardizing, and customers expect instant gratification. Whether you are running a $2M operation or scaling your first crew, getting your pricing structure right is the difference between bleeding cash and building a scalable asset.
This guide breaks down the financial landscape of the industry in 2026, covering average costs, pricing models, and the strategic levers that affect rates so you can price with confidence.
In 2026, average house cleaning service prices in the US typically range from $120 to $280 per standard visit or $45 to $75 per hour per cleaner for professional companies. Deep cleans and move outs cost more, often $250 to $700+ per job, depending on home size, condition, location, and frequency of service.
What are House Cleaning Services?
House cleaning services are professional residential cleaning solutions that handle tasks such as dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and sanitizing to maintain a home’s hygiene and appearance. These services are usually delivered on a recurring or one time basis, and are priced based on time, scope, and home size.
Unlike commercial janitorial work, residential cleaning focuses on detailed care of living spaces like kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. These services range from standard maintenance cleans to deep cleaning and move out services. For business owners, selling these services means selling time and peace of mind, not just a clean floor.
Average House Cleaning Service Prices (Overview)
In 2026, the national average for standard house cleaning services typically falls between $120 and $280 per visit for a 2 to 3 bedroom home, based on aggregated pricing from leading marketplaces and service providers in 2024–2025.[^angi-2024][^forbes-2024] However, this range fluctuates heavily based on geography and service tiers.
For cleaning business owners, benchmarking against national averages is a starting point, not a rule. Your rates must reflect your specific overhead, labor burden, and profit goals.
National Pricing Snapshot (2026)
- Standard Cleaning Visit: $120 – $280
- Hourly Rate (Per Cleaner): $40 – $55 (independent), $45 – $75 (professional companies)
- Deep Cleaning Visit: $200 – $600+
- Move Out Cleaning: $300 – $700
If you are billing hourly, the industry standard has shifted. While independent cleaners might charge $30–$45 per hour, professional companies with overhead, insurance, and reliable staffing now average $45–$75 per hour per cleaner.[^angi-2024]
House Cleaning Prices by Service Type
Not all cleans are created equal. A standard clean requires a completely different labor scope than a move out clean. Successful cleaning businesses segment their pricing to protect their margins against scope creep and to keep their house cleaning service prices transparent.
Below is a breakdown of common service categories, what they include, and typical price ranges.
1. Standard / Recurring Cleaning
Average Cost: $120 – $280 per visit
This is the bread and butter of the industry. It includes surface level maintenance: dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and sanitizing bathrooms and kitchens. It assumes the home is already in a relatively maintained state and is ideal for weekly, bi weekly, or monthly clients.
2. Deep Cleaning
Average Cost: $250 – $600+
Deep cleaning commands a premium, typically 50% to 100% more than a standard clean for the same home size. This service tackles neglected areas: baseboards, inside appliances, behind furniture, and heavy scrubbing of grout. If you are a business owner, never start a new recurring client without a deep clean first, otherwise, your standard clean will turn into a money losing deep clean.
3. Move In / Move Out Cleaning
Average Cost: $300 – $700
These are labor intensive jobs requiring an empty home to be returned to like new condition. Prices often scale higher based on the condition left by the previous occupant and whether the client needs inside cabinets, closets, and appliances included.
4. Specialized Add Ons
To maximize average ticket size, smart businesses offer a la carte add ons that stack on top of their core house cleaning service prices:
- Fridge Interior: $25 – $50
- Oven Cleaning: $25 – $50
- Interior Windows: $5 – $10 per window
- Eco Friendly Products: +$10 – $20 per visit
House Cleaning Prices by Pricing Model
How you charge is just as important as how much you charge. In 2026, the industry is split between hourly and flat rate models, with scaling businesses leaning heavily toward flat rates for predictability.
Hourly Pricing
Range: $40 – $75 per hour per cleaner
- Best For: Partial cleans, hoarding situations, or homes with unpredictable conditions.
- Pros: You get paid for every minute you work, which protects your labor costs on messy jobs.
- Cons: It can penalize efficiency. The faster your team gets, the less money you make per job, and customers dislike the open ended bill anxiety.
Flat Rate Pricing
Range: $150 – $400+ per visit
- Best For: Recurring clients, standardized homes, and scaling businesses.
- Pros: Predictable revenue for you and predictable cost for the client. It rewards efficiency, since if your team finishes early, your profit margin per hour increases.
- Cons: You must quote accurately. If you underestimate the time, you lose money.
Per Square Foot Pricing
Range: $0.10 – $0.30 per sq. ft. (standard)
- Best For: Large custom homes or commercial residential hybrids.
- Analysis: This model is objective, but can be risky if a 3,000 sq. ft. home is filled with clutter compared with a minimalist 3,000 sq. ft. home.
Per Room Pricing
Range: Often $25 – $60 per room for standard tasks, bundled into a minimum service charge
- Best For: Simple quoting over the phone and quick web estimates.
- Analysis: Often used as a base, for example, “Kitchen + 2 Bathrooms + 3 Rooms,” which allows for easy upsells on additional rooms or add ons.
| Pricing Model | Typical Range (2026) | Best Use Case | Owner’s Risk |
| Hourly | 40 to 75 dollars per hour | Unpredictable jobs | Revenue caps on efficiency |
| Flat Rate | 150 to 400 dollars or more per visit | Recurring revenue and bundles | Underestimating job duration |
| Per Sq. Ft. | 0.10 to 0.30 dollars | Large estates, standardized bids | Ignoring clutter and condition |
| Per Room | Room based bundles | Quick phone or web quotes | Scope creep on complex layouts |
After you choose a model, always spot check that the effective hourly rate you are earning still meets your labor, overhead, and profit targets.
House Cleaning Prices by Home Size
Size is the most common variable in quoting house cleaning service prices. However, bedroom count is often a better proxy for people living in the home, and thus the mess created, than pure square footage.
Studio or 1 Bedroom
Cost: $75 – $150
These are quick turnover jobs, often taking 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Profitability here relies on route density, so you need these jobs to be close together to minimize drive time and windshield costs.
2 to 3 Bedrooms
Cost: $120 – $280
This is the sweet spot for most residential cleaning businesses. These homes usually house couples or families, providing consistent recurring volume and relatively predictable scope.
4+ Bedrooms
Cost: $200 – $400+
Larger homes have higher ticket values but can be logistically challenging. Teams of 2–3 cleaners are often required to finish these efficiently within a single day and keep your effective hourly rate on target.
Square Footage Breakdowns
Typical flat rate price ranges by size, assuming average condition and a standard service list, are:
- < 1,000 sq. ft.: $80 – $170
- Around 2,000 sq. ft.: $150 – $320
- 3,000+ sq. ft.: $350 – $800
These ranges are directional and should be adjusted for local labor markets and your internal cost structure.
Factors That Affect House Cleaning Service Prices
If you strictly follow a pricing sheet without looking at variables, you will lose money. Several factors act as multipliers on your base house cleaning service prices.
1. Geography and Cost of Living
Rates in San Francisco or NYC will often be 30–50% higher than in smaller metros or rural areas, reflecting higher wages, insurance, and fuel costs.[^bls-2024] This is not price gouging, it is basic cost of labor and overhead math.
2. Condition of the Home
A lived in home is different from a neglected home. Businesses must charge a first time initial clean fee to bring the home up to maintenance standards. If there are pets, excessive clutter, heavy grease, or nicotine residue, rates must increase to cover the extra time and specialized chemicals.
3. Frequency of Service
This is the volume discount principle. A weekly client gets a better rate per visit than a monthly client because the home stays cleaner with less labor per visit, and because that client provides predictable recurring revenue.
4. Pets
Pet hair is the enemy of speed. It requires special vacuum attachments and extra time lint rolling furniture. Most companies add a $20–$40 pet fee per visit to cover extra time and filter wear.
5. Access and Logistics
If the home is a fourth floor walk up with no parking, that adds non billable setup time and physical strain. Smart owners factor difficulty of access, parking, and travel time into their quotes and minimum service fees.
One Time vs Recurring House Cleaning Prices
The holy grail of the service business is recurring revenue. To incentivize this, the industry standard is to price one time cleans high and offer significant discounts for frequency.
- One Time Clean: Base Rate (often $250+ for an average home)
- Monthly (Every 4 Weeks): ~10% discount off base
- Bi-Weekly (Every 2 Weeks): ~15–20% discount off base
- Weekly: ~20–30% discount off base
Why this matters: a one-time job for $300 is nice cash. However, a bi-weekly client at $180 per visit is worth $4,680 per year, not counting referrals. Recurring clients reduce your customer acquisition cost and stabilize your scheduling.
Is Professional House Cleaning Worth the Cost?
For the consumer, the calculation is simple, time versus money. With hourly wages rising, a homeowner spending 4 hours cleaning their own house every weekend is paying with time they could spend earning money or being with family.
For the business owner, communicating this value is key. You are not selling a clean toilet, you are selling a free Saturday.
- Health: Regular cleaning and HEPA vacuuming can help reduce dust and allergen levels in the home, which may support better indoor air quality.[^epa-iaq]
- Longevity: Regular maintenance extends the life of carpets, flooring, and fixtures by reducing abrasive dirt and buildup.
- Mental Clarity: Clutter and dirt increase stress and decision fatigue. You solve that problem by selling order and calm.
How to Choose the Right House Cleaning Service?
When customers are shopping, they look for trust signals. As a business owner, you need to ensure your company projects these signals to justify your house cleaning service prices and win higher value clients.
1. Vetted Employees vs Contractors
Customers pay a premium for peace of mind. If you employ W 2 staff, conduct background checks, and provide training, advertise it clearly. It justifies a $60 per hour rate versus an independent’s $30 per hour rate.
2. Insurance and Bonding
Accidents happen. Being fully insured and bonded protects the homeowner and separates professional operations from casual side hustles. Make sure your website and estimates state your coverage upfront.
3. Responsiveness
Speed to answer is critical. Various home services studies show that a large share of business goes to the provider who responds first to an inquiry, often within minutes.[^angiresponse] If you are cleaning a toilet, you cannot answer the phone. If you do not answer, you do not book.
4. Transparency
Clear pricing and a detailed checklist of what is included and what is not prevent disputes and bad reviews. Share your standard checklist and note what counts as extra or requires a separate quote.
For more on building trust and capturing more calls, see our guide on using AI to answer and book jobs in your home service business.
Common Mistakes to avoid inHouse Cleaning Pricing
Many cleaning businesses fail because they price with their heart, not their calculator. Avoid these pitfalls when setting your house cleaning service prices.
1. Underpricing to Win Work
Racing to the bottom destroys margins. If you are the cheapest option, you often attract the most demanding, least loyal customers. Price for profit, not just volume, and be willing to lose price shoppers who do not value your quality.
2. Ignoring Overhead
Your rate must cover labor, plus insurance, software, gas, supplies, marketing, and taxes. For example, if you charge $30 per hour and pay your cleaner $20 per hour, you might think you earn $10 per hour. After you subtract payroll taxes, workers’ comp, fuel, supplies, and admin time, you may actually lose money on every hour worked.
3. Not Charging for Travel Time
Windshield time is expensive. If you are not optimizing routes or charging a trip fee for distant clients, you are paying your staff to sit in traffic. Build minimum charges and service territories into your quoting rules so your house cleaning service prices always reflect real costs.
How House Cleaning Companies Set Their Prices?
To set profitable rates in 2026, use a reverse engineering formula rather than guessing or copying competitors.
- Calculate Labor Burden: Wage + payroll taxes + workers comp + benefits.
- Add Overhead: Divide total monthly overhead (rent, software, insurance, marketing, admin salary) by expected billable hours per month.
- Determine Desired Net Profit: Many healthy cleaning companies target 15–25% net profit margins.[^cleaningprofit]
Use the Formula:(Labor Cost per Hour + Overhead Allocation per Hour) / (1 − Desired Profit Margin) = Target Hourly Rate
For example, if your true labor cost is $25 per hour, your overhead allocation is $10 per hour, and you want a 20% profit margin, your target hourly rate is:
(25 + 10) / (1 − 0.20) = 35 / 0.80 = $43.75 per hour. You would then build flat rate packages so the time estimate times your target hourly rate gives you profitable house cleaning service prices.
How ServiceAgent helps to scale Your Cleaning Business?
You know your numbers. You have your pricing models set. However, the biggest bottleneck in 2026 is not cleaning the houses, it is managing the influx of leads, price shoppers, and bookings without missing calls.
If you are missing calls because you are in the field or the office is closed, you are literally throwing revenue away. Hiring a human receptionist can cost $3,000+ per month, requires training, and they can only handle one call at a time.
ServiceAgent.ai is your AI front office built for cleaning companies.
Instead of a generic chatbot, ServiceAgent is a complete AI Front Office Platform for service businesses that need fast, accurate price conversations.
- 24/7 Voice and Chat Agents: ServiceAgent answers your phone and web chats around the clock with the same professionalism as your best office manager. It can handle pricing questions, explain your house cleaning service prices, qualify leads, and book appointments directly into your calendar.
- Instant, Customized Quoting: You can train ServiceAgent on your specific pricing logic, whether you price by room count, square footage, or flat rate packages. The AI uses your rules to give accurate estimates in under a minute without you lifting a finger.
- Lead Capture and Follow Up: Whether prospects call, text, or chat on your site, ServiceAgent captures every lead, syncs it to your CRM, and can send reminders or follow ups automatically so fewer estimates go cold.
- Scalable Front Office, No Extra Payroll: As call volume grows, ServiceAgent scales with you. You pay based on usage instead of adding full-time staff, which keeps your overhead aligned with revenue.
Many cleaning companies use ServiceAgent alongside their job management tools so that AI handles the front end conversations and booking while their crews focus on executing profitable work.
Explore ServiceAgent’s free trial and see how AI can quote and book your house cleaning jobs on autopilot.
Comparison: Handling Pricing Inquiries
When price shoppers call or message you, how you handle those inquiries can decide whether you win or lose the job. Here is how ServiceAgent compares to other ways of handling house cleaning service prices on the front end.
| Feature | Human Receptionist | Virtual Assistant (Overseas) | ServiceAgent.ai |
| Price Range | Around 3,000 dollars or more per month | Around 1,000 dollars or more per month | Usage based, platform access is free |
| Setup Time | 2 to 4 weeks for hiring and training | 1 to 3 weeks for onboarding | Go live in days with pricing scripts |
| Ease of Use | Depends on hire | Varies by person | Central dashboard, simple configuration |
| Chat plus Voice Support | Phone only | Phone or chat, not both | Native voice, SMS, and web chat |
| Automation Depth | Low | Low to medium | High, multi step pricing and booking flows |
| Best Use Case | Low call volume offices | Basic admin tasks | 24/7 lead capture and instant estimates |
| Deployment Speed | Slow | Moderate | Fast, template based for home services |
| Industry Fit | Generic office | General admin | Built for home and field service companies |
| Integration Ecosystem | Manual data entry | Manual spreadsheets | CRM, calendar, and communication tools |
| AI Agent Features | None | None | Natural language, quoting logic, objection handling |
| Analytics and Reporting | Manual call logs | Limited | Call logs, conversion stats, and outcomes |
| Support and Onboarding | Manager led | Vendor dependent | Guided onboarding and best practice scripts |
With ServiceAgent, your pricing conversations become consistent, fast, and trackable, which helps you refine your house cleaning service prices and close more of the right clients.
Conclusion
Understanding house cleaning service prices in 2026 is about more than staying competitive, it is about ensuring your business is financially viable for the long haul. Whether you use hourly rates to protect against scope creep or flat rates to improve efficiency, the goal is consistent, profitable growth that supports your team and your brand.
The administrative burden of quoting, answering price questions, and booking jobs does not have to slow you down. The technology now exists to automate the busy work of pricing conversations and scheduling, so you can capture every qualified lead in your market.
If you are ready to turn your pricing strategy into booked jobs 24/7, let ServiceAgent handle your front office while you focus on delivering excellent service. Sign up for ServiceAgent today and put AI in charge of your quoting and booking workflow.
FAQs
What is the average hourly rate for house cleaning in 2026?
The national average for professional cleaning companies is about $45 to $75 per hour per cleaner, depending on location and scope.[^angi-2024] Independent cleaners generally charge less, around $30 to $45 per hour, but may not include insurance, bonding, or backup coverage.
How much does a typical house cleaning cost in 2026?
A typical standard cleaning for a 2 to 3 bedroom home in 2026 usually costs $120 to $280 per visit, while deep cleans often range from $250 to $600+, depending on home size, condition, and whether there are add ons such as fridge or oven cleaning.
Do cleaning services bring their own supplies?
Yes, most professional house cleaning services provide all necessary equipment and cleaning solutions, and this is built into their pricing. If you prefer they use your specific products for allergies or eco reasons, you should discuss this during the quoting process, but it usually does not reduce the price.
How much should I tip house cleaners?
While tipping is not mandatory, it is appreciated. Many homeowners tip 15–20% of the service cost, or $10–$20 per cleaner per visit, especially for recurring services. Others choose to give a larger year end bonus instead of tipping after each clean.
Which is the best software for managing house cleaning prices and bookings?
Top options for pricing, scheduling, and bookings in the cleaning industry include ServiceAgent, Housecall Pro, Jobber, and Service Fusion. ServiceAgent stands out for AI powered voice and chat, instant quoting based on your pricing rules, and its focus on automating calls and bookings for service businesses.
