Cleaning Quote Calculator

Price a house, apartment or office clean from square footage, your speed, labour cost and the margin you need

Updated 2026-10-01

Home or office size

sq ft

Type of clean

Your cleaning speed (standard clean)

sq ft/h

Add-on hours (oven, fridge, windows)

Cleaner wage

$/h

Payroll taxes & insurance on top of wage

Supplies per job

Travel cost per job

Target profit margin

Cleaners on the job

Quote price: $229.46
Labour hours (all cleaners): 5.5 h
Time on site with this crew: 2.75 h
Job cost (labour + supplies + travel): $149.15
Profit on the job: $80.31
Price per labour hour: $41.72
Price per sq ft: $0.115

Price = job cost ÷ (1 − margin), so a 35% margin means 35% of the price is profit, not 35% added to cost. Time your own cleans to set the speed: it is the single number that moves the quote most.

Your numbers stay on this device. The page link keeps your inputs, so a bookmark or shared link reopens these results.

Most cleaning businesses underprice because they quote from a competitor's number instead of their own costs. This calculator works the other way: it estimates the hours from the size of the home and how fast you clean, prices those hours at what a cleaner really costs you, adds supplies and travel, and sets the price that leaves your target margin. Change the type of clean to see a standard, deep and move-out price for the same home.

Worked example: a 2,000 sq ft deep clean

A cleaner covers about 600 sq ft an hour on a standard clean. A deep clean takes 1.5 times as long, so a 2,000 sq ft home needs 2,000 ÷ 600 × 1.5 = 5 hours, plus half an hour for the inside of the oven and fridge: 5.5 labour hours, or 2 hours 45 minutes on site with a crew of two.

At $22 an hour plus 15% for payroll taxes and insurance, a cleaner costs $25.30 an hour, so labour is $139.15. Add $10 of supplies and the job costs $149.15. For a 35% margin, price = $149.15 ÷ 0.65 = $229.46, which leaves $80.31 of profit and works out at $41.72 per labour hour.

Same 2,000 sq ft home, same costs and 35% margin, by type of clean
Type of clean	Time factor	Labour hours	Quote
Standard / recurring	×1	3.83	$164.59
Deep clean (first visit)	×1.5	5.5	$229.46
Move-in / move-out	×2	7.17	$294.33

Margin is not markup

A 35% margin means 35% of the price is profit. Adding 35% to cost gives only a 26% margin: $149.15 × 1.35 = $201.35, which leaves $52.20 instead of $80.31. Quote with the margin formula, price = cost ÷ (1 − margin), and use the markup vs margin converter if you think in markups.

Profit has to pay for everything the job cost leaves out: advertising, software, the owner's time quoting and scheduling, re-cleans, and slow weeks. That is why many owner-operators aim for a margin well above what a single job seems to need.

Setting your cleaning speed

The speed (square feet per cleaner-hour on a standard clean) moves the quote more than any other input, and it varies with clutter, pets, flooring, bathrooms per square foot and how thorough your checklist is. Time your next five standard cleans, divide each home's square footage by the labour hours, and use the average. Offices with open floor plans usually clean faster per square foot than homes; kitchens and bathrooms are the slowest rooms everywhere.

Deep clean: baseboards, inside cabinets fronts, light fixtures, built-up grime. Many companies require one before starting recurring service
Move-in / move-out: empty rooms but every surface, inside cabinets and appliances
Add-ons: inside the oven or fridge, interior windows, laundry, balconies — price them as extra time, not a flat guess

Turning the number into a quote

Send the client a written quote that lists what is included, the price, how long the quote is valid and any minimum charge. For recurring service, quote the first deep clean separately from the regular visit so the client can see why the first visit costs more. Instant Quote Maker builds that quote on your phone and converts it to an invoice when the job is done.

Keep the numbers in a spreadsheet

Ready-made Excel and Google Sheets templates that pick up where this calculator stops. One-off purchase, instant download.

Quote / Estimate Template Spreadsheet
Professional quote with validity date, tax, deposit and acceptance signature.
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Invoice Template + Invoice Log Spreadsheet
Auto-totalling invoice with tax, discount and balance due, plus an overdue-flagging log.
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Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate a cleaning quote?

Estimate the labour hours (square feet ÷ your cleaning speed × a factor for the type of clean, plus add-ons), multiply by your loaded hourly labour cost, add supplies and travel, then divide by (1 − your target margin). A 2,000 sq ft deep clean at 600 sq ft an hour, $25.30 an hour labour, $10 supplies and a 35% margin comes to $229.46.

How much should I charge per square foot for cleaning?

Work it out from your costs instead of a going rate. In the example the deep clean comes to about $0.115 per sq ft and the standard clean to about $0.082. Your own number depends on wages, speed and margin.

How much more should a deep clean cost?

It should cost the extra time it takes. Many cleaners find a deep clean takes about 1.5 times a standard clean and a move-out about twice as long, which is what the calculator uses by default.

What should be included in labour cost?

The wage plus what you pay on top of it: employer payroll taxes, workers' comp and liability insurance, and paid travel time. That is the payroll percentage in the calculator.

Should I charge by the hour or a flat rate?

Most residential cleaners quote a flat price per visit, worked out from expected hours as here, because clients prefer a fixed price. Hourly billing suits jobs you cannot see in advance, such as post-construction cleans.

Stop calculating one number at a time

ExpressBizTools tracks cost, price, margin, stock levels, and tax on every product and invoice automatically — free, in your browser.

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As an Amazon Associate, ExpressBizTools earns from qualifying purchases. Product links are affiliate links. Calculations are for general planning and are not tax, legal, or financial advice.