How to Price House Cleaning Services: A Simple Formula

If you own or are starting a cleaning business, one of the first questions you’ll face is: “How much should I charge to clean a house?”

It’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make — and one of the easiest to get wrong. Charge too little and your profits disappear. Charge too much and clients look elsewhere.

The good news? There’s now a data-driven way to price your cleaning services accurately using your ZIP code, home size, and cleaning type — all within minutes.

👉 Try it now with the Allison Cleaning Pricing Calculator — it gives you a fair, local estimate based on U.S. Census income data.

Why a Square-Foot Pricing Model Works Great

Many cleaners start with hourly rates, but pricing by square foot is often more scalable and transparent.

Here’s why it works:

• Automatically adjusts for home size

• Easy for customers to understand

• Keeps margins consistent across jobs

• Perfect for quoting quickly and confidently

Once you know your price-per-square-foot, you can quote any home with accuracy in seconds — or let the calculator do it for you.

Step 1: Understand What Impacts Your Price

Before calculating your rate, you need to understand what factors affect your pricing. The Allison Pricing Calculator already accounts for all of these automatically:

💰 Pricing Factors

• ZIP Code: Determines local pricing tiers based on U.S. Census income data

• Square Footage: Adjusts cost for the size of the home

• Type of Clean: Standard, Deep, Move-In/Out, or Construction

• Frequency: One-time or recurring services

• Pets: Each pet adds $15

• “Dirty Meter” Level: Each level (0–5) adds $20 to account for cleaning effort

These real-world variables ensure your quote reflects both market rates and actual effort.

Step 2: Use the Simple Formula

If you’d like to understand how the math works behind the calculator, here’s the basic formula most cleaning companies use:

Your rate per square foot depends on the type of clean and local pricing level.

Step 3: Add Frequency Discounts

Encourage repeat business with small discounts. Allison’s calculator applies these automatically:

That means the more often your client books, the better their rate — and the steadier your revenue.

Step 4: Adjust for Cleanliness & Pets

Two homes of the same size can require very different effort.

• Pets: Each pet adds $15

• Dirty Meter (0–5): Each level adds $20

Example: A 2,000 sq ft home with 2 pets and a Dirty Meter of 3
→ $0.12 × 2,000 sq ft = $240

• ($15 × 2 = $30) + ($20 × 3 = $60)
  = $330 total estimate

Instead of doing the math yourself, just plug this into the calculator — it handles it all instantly.

Step 5: Let Location Work for You

Not every ZIP code has the same labor and living costs. That’s why the Allison Pricing Calculator uses real U.S. Census Bureau data to adjust your rates based on local income levels — from Level 1 (Low Income) to Level 6 (Ultra-High Income).

This ensures your quotes reflect what customers in your area are used to paying — so you never undercharge or price yourself out of the market.

Example Price Ranges by Home Size

Your final quote will vary slightly depending on pets, cleanliness, and frequency — but this provides a realistic baseline for most residential cleaning services.

Step 6: Test Your Pricing Instantly

Instead of building a spreadsheet or guessing numbers, you can use the Allison Cleaning Pricing Calculator to run real-world scenarios instantly.

Try it free here:
👉 tools.getallison.com/pricing-calculator

You can:

• Enter your ZIP code and square footage

• Select cleaning type and frequency

• Adjust for pets or dirt level

• See live pricing based on real U.S. market data

No spreadsheet, no math — just accurate, data-driven estimates in seconds.

Step 7: Use Your Results to Set Client Rates

Once you know your baseline rate, you can:

• Set minimum job prices

• Offer tiered packages (Standard vs. Deep)

• Use frequency discounts to build recurring revenue

• Quote confidently without worrying about underpricing

The calculator gives you a realistic market-aligned starting point you can adjust slightly for your own costs and team structure.

Final Thoughts

Pricing house cleaning services doesn’t have to be a guessing game. With a clear formula and the Allison Pricing Calculator, you can confidently quote jobs that are both fair for customers and profitable for your business.

It’s fast, accurate, and based on real data — not guesswork.

Want to see how other cleaning companies are improving their pricing strategy?
Check out our Customer Spotlight on Honey-Dos LLC to see the results in action.

🧮 Try It Now

Use the free Allison Cleaning Pricing Calculator to discover exactly how much you should charge for house cleaning services in your area.

Get instant, local pricing estimates — and start quoting smarter today.