How do you price cleaning services?

Cleaning is not exactly the most glamorous or exciting topic, so you might be surprised to hear that it's one of the best ways to make money. If you're interested in starting your own cleaning business, here are some tips on how to price your cleaning services.

Price per square footage

This is one of the quickest and simplest ways to determine your house cleaning price. On average, prices tend not to be more than 10¢ per square foot for a routine deep clean. Generally speaking, in such cases, figures will look like:

• 1000 ft2 – $75-$125

• 2000 ft2 – $100-$200

• 2,500 ft2 – $125-$250

• 4,000 ft2 – $200-$400

• 6,000 ft2 – $300-$600

If you tend to offer cleaning services to commercial clients, pricing per square footage can be higher.

Price by room and bathroom

Many cleaning services charge per room and bathroom, especially from those who don’t know the exact area or space of their rooms. Here the market’s base rate is $75-$130. Here figures will look like:

• 1 Bedroom – $75-$130

• 2 Bedrooms – $100-$180

• 3 Bedrooms – $125-$250

• 4 Bedrooms – $200-$300+

Hourly pricing for house cleaning

To determine your hourly rate for cleaning services, start with the base amount you want to make per hour. Then you should factor in your expenses and general overhead costs and profit and add that number accordingly.

Charging on an hourly basis is ideal for newer house cleaning service businesses. Charging on an hourly basis ensures that you get paid properly for your services and time. You can also utilize this information to determine how much it cost to clean a house of a particular size if you want to opt for area-based pricing in the future.

House cleaning service pricing factors:

Usually, the price of cleaning services is based on these factors; hence when pricing your service, consider these factors:

• Location

• Overhead costs

• Supplies & workforce

Pricing Residential vs. commercial cleaning

Setting prices for your house cleaning business also depends on who you are targeting. Will it be primarily people who want you to clean their homes, or will the commercial spaces like offices and local businesses? Furthermore, in residential cleaning, you will usually get paid as soon as the cleaning is done and on the cleaning day, whereas commercial clients normally pay on a monthly basis.

Commercial properties need to be scrubbed down every day, but not as often or thoroughly as homes. Commercial spaces can range anywhere from 100 sq/ft to thousands of square feet; residential dupes average around 1-2 thousand.

To ensure profitability, you need to invest in new equipment and staff. This way, you can depute multiple people in one cleaning space, and your tasks will be completed on time and in a few hours. Similarly, most commercial cleaning is done after business hours. This means your staff will be working in the evening, at night, or even on the weekends.

When pricing commercial cleaning services, consider the additional crew and equipment you require to fulfill the task. 

Moreover, there can be additional upfront and administrative work waiting for you. For instance, your customer can request you to do a walkthrough of the space before cleaning it, share your Certificate of Insurance, and write an agreement before acquiring your services.