How to Price House Cleaning (The Flat-Rate Formula)
A simple flat-rate formula for pricing house cleaning by bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet, so every price pays your partners well and leaves profit.
Pricing makes or breaks a cleaning business. Price too low, and you can't pay your cleaners well, so the good ones leave. Price by guesswork, and every quote turns into a negotiation.
The fix is a flat-rate formula: one clear way to price every home, so the price is the price. Clients see it before they book, your partners know what they'll earn, and you know the business keeps its share.
Why flat rates beat pricing by the clock
When you price by the home instead of by the time spent:
- Clients know the exact price up front, so they book faster and don't worry about a cleaner working slowly.
- Your partners are rewarded for being good at their jobs. A skilled cleaner who finishes efficiently earns the same flat share.
- Your business can grow. Clock-based pricing caps what you can make. Flat pricing builds margins, and margins build a business that lasts.
The flat-rate formula
Every price is built from the same parts:
Price = base price + (bedrooms × bedroom price) + (bathrooms × bathroom price) + (square feet × square-foot price for that type of cleaning) + extras
The type of cleaning changes the square-foot price, because a deep cleaning or a move-out takes more work than a home that's kept up every two weeks:
- Standard cleaning: a home that's kept up regularly.
- Deep cleaning: first-time cleanings, or homes that haven't been cleaned in a while.
- Move-in and move-out cleaning: an empty home, inside cabinets and appliances.
Extras get their own flat price: inside the fridge, inside the oven, interior windows, baseboards, blinds, laundry and so on.
A worked example
Here's an example for a deep cleaning of a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,800-square-foot home:
| Part | Example rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | $35 | $35 |
| Bedrooms | 3 × $15 | $45 |
| Bathrooms | 2 × $20 | $40 |
| Square feet (deep cleaning) | 1,800 × $0.10 | $180 |
| Total | $300 |
Now the split. Say you pay your partners 50% of each job:
- Your partner earns $150 for the cleaning.
- $150 stays in your business for marketing, software, insurance, card fees and profit.
The same home as a standard cleaning every two weeks, at $0.06 a square foot, comes to $228 before any recurring discount.
How to find the right numbers for your area
- Research your local market. Look at what established companies near you charge, on their websites and on Thumbtack. You're looking for the range, not the cheapest.
- Decide your partner share. It depends on your market and cost of living. Make it fair and attractive for experienced cleaners.
- Work backwards. Your price has to cover your partner's share and your costs and a profit. If it only covers your cleaner, you've built yourself a job.
- Test it. If every single client says yes right away, you're probably too low. A healthy business hears "that's a little more than I expected" sometimes.
Recurring discounts
Recurring clients are the heart of a steady business. Reward them with a small discount by frequency, for example:
- Every week: a bigger discount.
- Every two weeks: a medium discount.
- Every month: a small discount.
The first cleaning is usually priced as a deep cleaning, then the home moves to the recurring standard price.
What to say when they ask for a price
Ask a couple of questions first, so you sound like a company that knows what it's doing: How many bedrooms and bathrooms? About how many square feet? When was the last deep cleaning? Any pets? One time, or every two weeks?
Then give the price and two times, and stop talking:
Based on your home, your deep cleaning is $300. We have Thursday or Friday open. Which works better?
If they say it's more than they expected:
I hear you. Our price includes vetted, reliable cleaners, and if anything isn't right, we'll make it right.
Don't drop your price. The clients who haggle at the start usually haggle forever.
The $99 cleaning trap
Beginners price low because they're scared nobody will book. The clients won't complain about $99. Your cleaners will, because they can't cover their gas and their time, and they'll go work for someone who pays better. Low prices don't build a business; they build a revolving door.
Put your prices on a booking page
Once your formula is set, put it where clients can see it. With a booking page, clients pick their bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, cleaning type and extras, see the exact flat price and book on the spot.
That's how Busy Book's booking page works: you enter your base price, bedroom and bathroom prices, a square-foot price for each type of cleaning, your recurring discounts and your extras once, and every home gets priced the same way. Sarah uses the same prices when she quotes leads by text.
Watch me walk through pricing
Questions people ask
How much should I charge to clean a house?
It depends on your market, the size of the home and the type of cleaning. Build a flat price from a base price plus bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet, with a higher square-foot rate for deep and move-out cleanings, then compare your results to established companies near you.
Should a cleaning business charge flat rates?
Flat rates are easier for clients to say yes to, reward efficient cleaners and let the business build margins. Most remote cleaning businesses price by the home rather than by the time spent.
How much should I charge for a deep cleaning?
Use a higher square-foot rate than your standard cleaning, because deep cleanings take more work. First-time cleanings are often priced as deep cleanings before a client moves to a recurring standard price.
How much do I pay my cleaners out of each job?
Many remote owners pay partner cleaners a set percentage of each job's flat price. The right share depends on your market and cost of living; it should be fair for experienced cleaners and still leave room for your business costs and profit.
