How to Price Cleaning Jobs: a Formula That Protects Your Profit

"Busy but broke" is the standard failure mode of new cleaning businesses: a full calendar of jobs priced so low that nothing is left after costs. The fix is a formula.

The formula

Price = (labor + supplies) ÷ (1 − overhead% − profit%)

1. Labor: loaded hourly cost (wage + payroll taxes/insurance) × people × hours including round-trip drive time.
2. Supplies: $5–10 per residential job.
3. Overhead: insurance, marketing, software, admin — typically 10–20% of price.
4. Profit: the business should keep 15–25% after everything. This is not your wage — it's what makes the business worth owning.

Worked example

Solo cleaner paying themselves $22/hr loaded, 3-hour standard clean, 30 minutes driving, $6 supplies, 15% overhead, 20% margin:

• Labor: $22 × 3.5h = $77
• Direct cost: $77 + $6 = $83
• Price: $83 ÷ (1 − 0.15 − 0.20) = $83 ÷ 0.65 = $128 → quote $130

That's an effective $37/hr on-site — right in the healthy range for solo residential work. Quote $95 "to win the job" and the business earns almost nothing for the risk.

Adjustments

• First-time clean: 1.5× the recurring price (there's always more dirt than the walkthrough showed).
• Deep clean: 1.5–2× hours. Move-out: 2–2.5×.
• Recurring discounts: weekly −15%, bi-weekly −10%, monthly −5%. Loyalty is worth paying for; desperation isn't.