How Much Do House Cleaners Charge

House cleaning prices can vary based on the size of the home, the type of cleaning, the location, and whether you hire an independent cleaner or a cleaning company. Cleaners may charge by the hour, by the job, or use a fixed price based on the home and services required.

This guide explains typical house cleaning rates, how cleaner wages vary across the U.S., what goes into a cleaning business's customer-facing price, and how to invoice house cleaning services.

Quick Answer

House cleaners commonly charge about $25 to $50 per cleaner per hour for standard cleaning when using hourly pricing. The actual customer rate can be lower or higher depending on the location, cleaning scope, home size, and business model.

This $25–$50 range is a practical pricing benchmark, not a U.S. government statistic. There is no single nationwide government dataset that reports the average hourly amount residential customers pay house cleaners.

For an official labor-cost benchmark, the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data reports a median wage of $17.07 per hour for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in May 2025. The mean hourly wage was $17.83, and the mean annual wage was $37,080.

The difference matters. A cleaner's wage is not the same as the amount a customer pays. A business also has to cover payroll costs, supplies, transportation, insurance, administrative work, non-billable time, and profit.

House Cleaner Wages by State

The BLS does not publish a state-by-state table specifically called "house cleaning rates." Instead, its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program reports wages for the occupation Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (SOC 37-2012).

BLS's occupation covers cleaning work performed in private households as well as commercial establishments such as hotels and hospitals. Therefore, these figures should be treated as a wage benchmark for the occupation, not as the price a residential customer should expect to pay.

The latest available OEWS state data is from May 2025. BLS provides state estimates for all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Top-Paying States

Upper-Mid Wage States

Mid-Range Wage States

Lower-Paying States

These state figures come from the BLS May 2025 OEWS state estimates for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners. BLS also provides metropolitan and nonmetropolitan estimates, which can be useful when comparing local labor markets.

Why Do House Cleaning Prices Vary?

A cleaner's hourly wage is only one part of the final price. Even two cleaning businesses in the same city may charge different amounts for similar work.

Location

Labor costs tend to differ between local markets. The BLS state data shows a wide gap in wages for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners.

For example, the median wage was $24.81 per hour in Hawaii compared with $12.19 per hour in Mississippi in May 2025. That difference can affect the labor cost a cleaning business needs to recover through its customer prices.

Local demand, competition, transportation costs, and the overall cost of operating a business can also affect the final rate.

Size and Condition of the Home

A 1,000-square-foot apartment usually requires less work than a 3,000-square-foot house.

But square footage alone does not determine the amount of work. A home that has not been cleaned for several months may take considerably longer than a regularly maintained home of the same size.

Factors that can affect the price include:

• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
• Amount of furniture and clutter
• Floor type
• Kitchen condition
• Pet hair
• Accumulated dirt or buildup
• Number of occupants
• Frequency of previous cleaning

Type of Cleaning

A standard recurring cleaning is different from a deep cleaning.

A customer may also request additional services such as:

• Inside oven cleaning
• Inside refrigerator cleaning
• Window cleaning
• Baseboard cleaning
• Cabinet cleaning
• Move-in or move-out cleaning

These services require additional time and may be priced separately.

Number of Cleaners

A business may send one cleaner or a team.

Two cleaners may finish a job faster, but the business is paying two people for the time spent on the job. This is why a customer should look at the total job price, not only the hourly rate.

How Do House Cleaner Wages Affect Customer Prices?

The BLS median wage of $17.07 per hour does not mean a cleaning business can charge customers $17.07 per hour.

Consider a simple example.

Suppose two cleaners work for three hours on a house.

At the BLS national median wage:

2 cleaners × 3 hours × $17.07 = $102.42 in direct wages

The business still has costs beyond those wages.

A customer-facing price may need to cover:

• Employee wages
• Payroll taxes and other labor costs
• Cleaning products
• Equipment
• Transportation and vehicle expenses
• Insurance
• Scheduling and administrative work
• Time spent traveling between jobs
• Unpaid estimates or customer communication
• Marketing
• Business overhead
• Profit

This is why employee wage and customer billing rate should never be treated as the same number.

A simple way to think about the pricing structure is:

Customer Price = Direct Labor + Labor Burden + Operating Costs + Profit

For an independent cleaner, the calculation can look different because the cleaner may not have traditional employee payroll costs. However, the cleaner still has to account for supplies, transportation, equipment, taxes, unpaid time, and other business expenses.

How Do House Cleaners Set Their Prices?

Cleaning businesses generally have several ways to price their services.

Hourly Pricing

Hourly pricing is straightforward when the amount of work is difficult to predict.

The basic calculation is:

Customer Price = Hourly Billing Rate × Hours Worked × Number of Cleaners

For example, if a business uses an illustrative billing rate of $35 per cleaner per hour and two cleaners work for three hours:

$35 × 3 × 2 = $210

The $35 figure is only an example. It is not a BLS-reported rate or a recommended national price.

Hourly pricing can work well for first-time cleanings, unusual jobs, or homes where the required work varies significantly.

Flat-Rate Pricing

Some cleaning businesses quote one price for the entire job.

For example, a cleaner might provide a fixed quote for a recurring weekly cleaning rather than charging based on the exact number of hours.

Flat-rate pricing makes the customer's cost easier to understand. It also allows the cleaning business to benefit from becoming more efficient over time.

The business still needs to estimate labor carefully. If a job consistently takes longer than expected, the flat price may not be profitable.

Pricing Additional Services Separately

Another option is to use a base cleaning price and add charges for extra services.

For example:

The amounts above are illustrative rather than market averages. The advantage of this structure is that the customer can clearly see what is included in the price.

How to Invoice a House Cleaning Service

Once the price is agreed upon, a professional invoice makes the transaction easier to understand and easier to track.

A house cleaning invoice should normally include:

Business Information

Include the cleaning business name, contact information, and any other required business details.

Customer Information

List the customer's name and contact information so there is no confusion about who the invoice is for.

Invoice Number and Date

Give each invoice a unique invoice number. Include the invoice date and, when useful, the date the cleaning service was performed.

Description of Services

Be specific about what was completed.

Instead of simply writing: Cleaning service

Use a description such as: Standard residential cleaning — 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home

Additional services can be listed separately.

Quantity, Rate, and Amount

For hourly work, show the number of hours and the hourly billing rate.

For flat-rate work, show the service as a single line item.

This gives the customer a clear connection between the work performed and the amount due.

Total and Payment Terms

The invoice should clearly show:

• Subtotal
• Taxes, if applicable
• Additional fees, if applicable
• Total amount due
• Due date
• Accepted payment methods

Clear payment terms can make it easier for a cleaning business to get paid on time.

How to Set a Profitable House Cleaning Rate

If you run a cleaning business, the BLS wage data can be useful as a starting point, but it should not be the only number in your pricing calculation.

Start with the labor cost.

Then estimate the other costs required to complete each job.

1. Calculate Direct Labor

Estimate how many cleaners you need and how long the job should take.

2. Add Labor-Related Costs

If you employ cleaners, account for costs beyond the advertised wage.

3. Calculate Operating Costs

Include supplies, equipment, transportation, insurance, software, advertising, and other business expenses.

4. Account for Non-Billable Time

A cleaner may spend time traveling, scheduling jobs, answering customer questions, preparing supplies, or handling administrative work.

That time still costs money even though it may not appear on a customer's invoice.

5. Add Profit

A sustainable business needs more than enough revenue to cover expenses. Your pricing should leave room for profit and unexpected costs.

6. Review Your Local Market

Finally, compare your prices with similar services in your area.

The BLS state wage data can help you understand the local labor-cost environment, but customer-facing prices should be based on the actual economics of your cleaning business.

Final Thoughts

So, how much do house cleaners charge?

For hourly cleaning, $25–$50 per cleaner per hour is a useful practical pricing benchmark, although actual rates can vary considerably by location, home size, cleaning type, and business model. This range should not be confused with a government-reported national average.

For an official labor benchmark, the latest BLS OEWS data shows that the median wage for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners was $17.07 per hour in May 2025, with a mean hourly wage of $17.83.

The important distinction is between wage and price. A cleaner's wage represents the cost of labor to the worker or employer. The customer's invoice needs to cover the full cost of delivering the service and leave enough room for the business to remain profitable.

For cleaning businesses, a clear invoice is one of the simplest ways to turn a completed job into a payment. Listing the services, quantities, rates, total, and payment terms helps customers understand exactly what they are paying for and gives the business a better record of what is still owed.