Expect $120 to $280 per visit for a standard clean of an average US home, with a national average around $180 for a 2,000 square foot, three-bedroom house. Hourly rates run $25 to $75 per cleaner. Deep cleans cost 30–100% more, and move-out cleaning runs $250 to $600. The wide ranges are real, but part of the spread comes from who published the figure.
Last updated: September 2026
How much does a home cleaning service cost? The headline numbers
Every guide to house cleaning prices quotes a national average. They do not agree, and the gaps are large enough to matter when you are budgeting.
| Source type | Standard clean, per visit | Hourly, per cleaner |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace cost databases | $125–$225, with low end $120–$130 and high end $350–$400 | $45–$50 |
| Consumer cost guides | $100–$300, average around $180 | $25–$75 |
| Cleaning-industry software publishers | $120–$280, or $180–$280 for 2,000 sq ft | $40–$80 |
A detail worth knowing before you use any of these figures. A large share of the pages ranking for house cleaning prices are published by software companies that sell scheduling and invoicing tools to cleaning businesses. Their audience is the cleaner, not you. Several state openly that most cleaning businesses undercharge by 20–40%, and their price tables are guidance on what operators should charge rather than a record of what homeowners do pay.
That does not make the numbers wrong. It does mean they sit at the upper end of the real distribution. Marketplace databases drawing on actual booked jobs tend to land lower.
One more source bias worth naming: at least one widely cited price guide in this space is published by a robot vacuum manufacturer, which quotes $0.10 to $0.30 per square foot — implying $200 to $600 for a 2,000 square foot home, well above every other source. Read cost content with an eye on who benefits from the number being high or low.
Cost by home size
Square footage is the single largest factor, because it drives time.
| Home | Standard clean | Deep clean |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed, 1-bath apartment | $75–$200 | $150–$300 |
| 2-bed, 1-bath (~1,000 sq ft) | $110–$180 | $180–$300 |
| 3-bed, 2-bath (~2,000 sq ft) | $135–$280 | $280–$400 |
| 4-bed, 3-bath (~2,500–3,000 sq ft) | $200–$350 | $350–$550 |
Per square foot, published figures cluster at $0.10 to $0.17 for regular cleaning, $0.11 to $0.30 for deep cleaning, and $0.22 to $0.33 for move-out. Bathrooms matter more than bedrooms — they take the longest per room and are the most common source of a higher-than-expected quote.
Cost by type of clean
This is where quotes diverge most, and where people get surprised.
Standard or maintenance clean — $120 to $280. Dusting, vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms, kitchen surfaces, emptying bins, making beds. Assumes the home is already in reasonable condition.
Deep clean — 30% to 100% more than standard. Baseboards, inside appliances, behind and under furniture, grout, light fixtures. Most first visits are priced as deep cleans, which is the single most common reason a first bill exceeds expectations.
Move-in or move-out clean — $250 to $600, sometimes higher. Empty property, everything cleaned including inside cabinets and appliances. Larger homes and heavy buildup push this well past $600.
Add-on services — $4 to $50 each. Interior windows, fridge, oven, laundry, changing bed linens. These are almost never included in a base quote.
How much does a home cleaning service cost per year?
This is the calculation nobody publishes, and it inverts the usual advice.
Recurring service lowers the per-visit price. It raises the annual total. Some companies also add roughly 50% to a monthly visit, on the reasoning that a month of accumulated dust takes longer.
Working from published rates for a 2,000 square foot home:
| Frequency | Rough per visit | Visits a year | Approximate annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $150 (discounted) | 52 | $7,800 |
| Every two weeks | $165 | 26 | $4,290 |
| Monthly | $270 (with frequency surcharge) | 12 | $3,240 |
| One-off, as needed | $180–$280 | 4–6 | $720–$1,680 |
These are arithmetic from published national ranges, not quoted packages — your local rates will differ. But the shape holds: weekly service costs roughly double what biweekly costs annually, despite a lower price per visit.
Biweekly is the frequency most households land on, and the arithmetic explains why. It keeps the home from reaching deep-clean condition without paying for 52 visits.
Where you live changes the number by 40%
National averages hide the largest single variable after home size.
High-cost metros — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles — run 20% to 40% above national figures. A $180 national average clean becomes $216 to $252 in those markets before any other factor. Lower-cost regions run correspondingly below.
The practical consequence: a national average is a sanity check, not a budget. Get three local quotes for the same defined scope before deciding whether a price is fair, and compare them against each other rather than against a figure published for the country as a whole.
Two quotes for the “same” clean also frequently differ because the scope differs. Ask each company to quote against an identical written list of rooms and tasks, or the comparison tells you nothing.
What moves your quote up or down
Six factors set what a maid service quotes you, roughly in order of impact:
Allow for any discretionary tip separately from the quoted cleaning price. Our guide to tipping a home cleaning service explains the common approaches and the company policies worth checking first.
- Square footage and bathroom count. Bathrooms take disproportionate time.
- Condition. A cluttered or long-neglected home is quoted higher, and reputable companies do a walkthrough before quoting for exactly this reason.
- Location. High-cost metros — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles — run 20–40% above national averages.
- Frequency. More frequent means cheaper per visit and more expensive per year.
- Pets. Fur and dander add time to floors and upholstery.
- Who supplies products. Some companies charge extra for supplies or for specified eco-friendly products.
The pricing models, and which favors you
Three models are common, and they suit different situations.
Flat rate per job. Most common for recurring residential work. You know the cost in advance and the cleaner is incentivized to work efficiently. Best for standard, predictable cleans.
Hourly, $25 to $75 per cleaner. Better when the job is unusual, small, or you genuinely do not know how long it will take. Worse when the home is large, because there is no ceiling on the bill.
Per square foot. Mostly used for large homes and commercial work. Transparent for big spaces, and awkward for small ones.
Flat rate is generally the safer choice for a homeowner on a routine clean. Hourly is safer on a one-off job of uncertain scope, provided you agree a cap.
Questions to ask before booking
The quote is not the price unless you check these:
- Is the first visit priced as a deep clean? Usually yes, and it is worth knowing before the invoice.
- What exactly is included? Ask specifically about inside the fridge, inside the oven, interior windows and laundry — the four most common assumed-but-excluded items.
- Who brings supplies and equipment? And is there a charge for them.
- Is the company insured and bonded? This is what protects you if something is damaged or goes missing.
- Is there a minimum charge? Many companies set one, which makes single-room jobs uneconomic.
- How is cancellation handled? Short-notice cancellation fees are standard.
Is a cleaning service worth it?
Straight arithmetic: biweekly service at roughly $4,300 a year against a few hours of your own time each week.
Time Use Survey analysis puts average US housework at roughly 37 minutes a day, or around 226 hours a year. At biweekly professional cleaning you are not eliminating all of that — daily tidying, dishes and laundry remain yours — but you are removing the heavy weekly work.
The case is strongest for households where the alternative is not doing it. A home that reaches deep-clean condition costs 30–100% more to bring back, so intermittent professional cleaning is more expensive per visit than recurring service that never lets it slip.
If the numbers do not work, our guide to building a home cleaning routine covers how to structure the same work yourself in 15 to 30 minutes a day.
FAQ
How much does it cost to clean a 2,000 square foot house?
$135 to $280 for a standard clean depending on source and location, with most published averages clustering around $180. A deep clean of the same home runs $280 to $400. High-cost metros add 20–40% to these figures.
What is the hourly rate for a house cleaner in 2026?
$25 to $75 per hour per cleaner, with marketplace data putting the national average nearer $45 to $50. Industry software publishers quote $40 to $80, but that figure is guidance to cleaning businesses on what to charge rather than a record of what homeowners pay.
Why is my first cleaning more expensive?
Because most companies price the first visit as a deep clean. Baseboards, inside appliances, grout and areas behind furniture take substantially longer on a first pass, and that work is priced at 30% to 100% above a standard maintenance clean.
Is weekly or biweekly cleaning better value?
Biweekly, on annual cost. Weekly service has a lower price per visit but roughly double the annual total, because you are paying for 52 visits instead of 26. Biweekly is frequent enough to stop a home reaching deep-clean condition.
Do I need to tip a house cleaner?
Tipping is customary but not obligatory in the US, and is more common for one-off and move-out jobs than for recurring service with a company. Ask what the company’s policy is, since some build gratuity into the rate and others do not.
Should I choose a company or an independent cleaner?
Independent cleaners are usually cheaper and companies usually carry insurance, bonding and cover for sickness or holidays. If you use an independent, confirm they carry liability insurance themselves — you are otherwise exposed if something is damaged.
