Pricing data · September 2026

House Cleaning Prices 2026: What to Charge, by Home Size

Updated September 2026 · 9 min read · Data compiled from public industry sources

The most common question in every cleaner community, asked at least weekly: "What do I charge?" The honest answer has three parts: the market table, your city factor, and three rules that most beginners skip. Here's all three.

The 2026 national table

These are flat rates per visit for a standard recurring clean, compiled from US industry pricing guides published in 2026:

Home size	Standard clean	Typical duration
Studio / 1 bedroom	$75–$150	1–2 hours
2 bedrooms	$100–$200	2–3 hours
3 bedrooms	$140–$260	2.5–3.5 hours
4 bedrooms	$220–$340	3–4.5 hours
5+ bedrooms	$280–$450	4–6 hours

Deep cleans and move-outs

Service	Multiplier	What it means
First clean / deep clean	1.5–2x standard	Grout, soap scum, baseboards, behind appliances. Always longer than a recurring visit.
Move-out clean	2–2.5x, or $300–$650 flat	Empty home, inside cabinets, appliances, walls spot-cleaned. Walk through with photos before quoting.
Hourly (if you must)	$35–$75 per cleaner	Mostly for partial jobs. Flat rates win for everything recurring.

Your city factor

The national table is a midpoint. Adjust it:

Expensive metros (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston): +20–45%. A 3-bed standard in Manhattan is realistically $170–$380.
Mid-level cities (Austin, Columbus, Nashville): roughly the table as printed.
Small Midwest/Southern towns: −10–15%. A 3-bed standard in small-town Ohio lands around $120–$220.

The three rules beginners skip

1. First cleans cost more, always

A home you've never touched takes 2–3 times longer than one on your route. If you quote one flat rate for "a clean," your first visit works at a loss. Quote the first clean at deep-clean rates, then let recurring visits carry the discount. Say this out loud when you book: clients accept it when it's explained before, not after.

2. Recurring discounts buy predictability

Offer 15–30% off the one-time rate for weekly or biweekly schedules. A biweekly client at $140 is worth $3,640 a year without any cost to find them again. One-time jobs at full price feel profitable and quietly starve your calendar.

3. Walkthrough before quote, always

Phone estimates guess. Walkthroughs know. Ten minutes in the home tells you the grout situation, the pet hair volume, and the clutter level that doubles your time. The phrase that works: "For an exact price I need to see it for ten minutes. Without that, I can only give a range."

Where these numbers come from: 2026 US pricing guides and cost surveys from industry sources (Housecall Pro, Angi, HomeGuide and similar), cross-checked against what working cleaners report charging in r/sweatystartup and r/CleaningBusiness threads. Prices vary by market and change over time — treat the table as a starting range, then adjust with your walkthrough.

Quote without guessing

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