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How to Price a House Cleaning Job From Your Real Costs

May 13, 2026 · 8 min read

Many cleaners price by feel — they glance at the house, name a number, and hope it works out. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn't, and they don't even realize the job lost money. Here's how to quote a cleaning job so the math always works in your favor.

Short answer: Price from your own costs, not the competition's: true labor cost (in the example, an $18/hour cleaner costs about $27 per working hour), honest hours, supplies and travel, overhead, then a profit margin you choose on purpose. A standard 3-hour clean with $100 in real costs should be priced around $154.

Why "what everyone else charges" is a trap

A common way cleaners set prices is by copying the competition — $35 an hour because that's what the last person charged, or $150 for a standard home because it sounds about right. The problem is you have no idea what their costs are. Maybe they're running themselves into the ground. Maybe they pay their staff less, or skip insurance, or are quietly going out of business. Pricing off someone else's number means inheriting someone else's mistakes.

Your price should be built from your costs and the profit you need. Here's how to get there.

Step 1: Know your true labor cost

If you pay a cleaner $18/hour, your cost is not $18/hour. You also pay payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance, and possibly benefits. These extra costs are your labor burden. In this example they add 30%.

So the $18/hour cleaner costs you $23.40/hour. You also pay for time you cannot bill: driving between homes, restocking the car, paperwork. Say you pay for 15% more hours than you bill. Each working hour then costs about $27. Every quote must cover that number before you make any profit.

Step 2: Estimate the hours honestly

How long will the job actually take — not how long you wish it took? Time a few of your own jobs and use those numbers. A first-time or deep clean takes longer than a regular visit, so time those separately. Be honest here. An optimistic time estimate gives you a price that is too low.

Step 3: Add your supplies and travel

Cleaning products, fresh microfiber, bags, equipment wear — it adds up over a month. Build a small materials figure into every quote. If the home is far outside your normal area, add travel or mileage too. These are real costs; don't absorb them out of politeness.

Step 4: Cover your overhead

Your car, phone, scheduling app, advertising, and insurance roll on whether you book one job or twenty. Every quote needs to carry a slice of that — usually expressed as a percentage on top of the job's direct cost. Skip this and those costs quietly eat your profit across the year.

Step 5: Add your profit — on purpose

Once labor, supplies, travel, and overhead are covered, you're at break-even. Profit is what you add on top — and it should be a deliberate number, not whatever's left over. The example below uses a 35% margin. Remember: margin and markup aren't the same thing (a 30% markup is only about a 23% margin), so be clear about which you're using.

A quick example

Standard clean, one cleaner, 3 hours:

• True labor cost: 3 hrs × $27 = $81
• Supplies: $8
• Overhead at 12%: ~$11
• Subtotal (break-even): $100
• Profit at 35% margin: the price becomes ~$154

That $154 isn't a number you guessed. You can defend it, because every dollar of it covers a cost or is profit you chose.

Run these numbers for your own job in the free calculator →

Set a minimum, always

Tiny jobs still cost you a trip, setup, and admin. A 1-hour touch-up that "only" earns $40 might actually lose money once you account for drive time. Set a minimum job fee — say $120 — and apply it no matter how small the job. It protects you on the work that looks easy but isn't worth the gas.