How Much Do Cleaning Businesses Make? A Solo Cleaner's Guide

How much do cleaning businesses make? It comes down to a few numbers

You’ll find all kinds of big numbers online about how much cleaning companies make. Most of them mix together solo cleaners, crews with ten employees and commercial janitorial firms. That’s not very useful when it’s just you and your car.

For a one-person business, income comes from a short formula:

Price per clean × cleans per week × weeks you work = yearly revenue

Then:

Revenue − business costs − taxes = what you actually take home

Change any one of those numbers and your income changes. That’s good news, because it means you’re not stuck with an “average.” You can raise your number on purpose.

How much do house cleaners get paid per hour?

It’s worth knowing what cleaners earn when they work for someone else, because that’s what you’re competing with when you decide to go solo.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a May 2025 median annual wage of $35,510 for maids and housekeeping cleaners. “Median” means half earned more and half earned less. If you spread that over a full-time year of 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks), the math is:

• $35,510 ÷ 2,080 hours = about $17.07 an hour

Keep two things in mind. First, this is pay for employees. BLS explains in its Occupational Outlook Handbook that the wage data there come from the OEWS survey and do not include pay for self-employed workers or workers in private households. Second, an employee doesn’t pay for supplies, gas or insurance, and their employer pays part of their payroll taxes. As a solo owner, you pay all of that yourself. So your hourly number has to be higher just to come out even.

Your real hourly rate as a solo cleaner

Here’s how to work out what one job really pays you per hour. Count the drive, not just the time inside the home.

Example: you charge $160 for a standard clean (an example price). The clean takes 3 hours, and you drive 30 minutes to get there.

• 3 hours + 0.5 hours = 3.5 hours
• $160 ÷ 3.5 hours = about $45.71 an hour, before costs

That looks great next to $17.07, but it’s not take-home pay yet. Costs and taxes still come out, which we’ll cover below.

Example: how much does a cleaning business make in a year?

These examples use made-up round numbers to show the math. They are not averages or promises. Plug in your own prices.

Example 1: Part-time solo cleaner

Six cleans a week at $140 each, working 48 weeks a year (four weeks off for holidays, sick days and vacation):

• 6 cleans × $140 = $840 a week
• $840 × 48 weeks = $40,320 a year in revenue

Example 2: Full-time solo cleaner

Twelve cleans a week at $160 each, also working 48 weeks:

• 12 cleans × $160 = $1,920 a week
• $1,920 × 48 weeks = $92,160 a year in revenue

Notice the gap. Doubling your cleans and charging $20 more per clean more than doubles your revenue: $92,160 ÷ $40,320 = about 2.29 times as much.

Revenue isn’t take-home pay: subtract your costs

Revenue is the money clients pay you. Profit is what’s left after your business costs. Here’s one month (four working weeks, which matches a 48-week year) for the full-time example in Example 2. Every cost here is an example; use your own.

The math: $384 + $456 + $60 + $50 = $950 in costs, and $7,680 − $950 = $6,730.

This example leaves out some real costs you should plan for, like health insurance, saving for retirement and cleans that get cancelled at the last minute.

For driving, this example uses the IRS standard mileage rate of 76 cents per mile for business use from July 1 to December 31, 2026, as a rough stand-in for what your car costs to run. Miles from January 1 to June 30, 2026 use 72.5 cents. Which miles count for taxes depends on your setup, so ask a tax professional.

Don’t forget taxes

When you work for yourself, nobody takes taxes out of your pay. The IRS says the self-employment tax rate is 15.3% (12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare), and you generally owe it once your net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more. Income tax comes on top of that.

A simple habit: set aside a fixed share of profit from every job so tax time isn’t a shock. Say you set aside 25% (an example share, not a tax rule; a tax professional can help you pick yours):

• $6,730 × 0.25 = $1,682.50 set aside
• $6,730 − $1,682.50 = $5,047.50 left for you that month

The IRS says you generally have to make estimated tax payments during the year if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, instead of paying it all at once.

How many cleans can one person do?

There’s a limit to how many homes one person can clean, and your body is part of that math. Using the full-time example:

• 12 cleans × 3 hours = 36 hours of cleaning a week
• Plus 12 drives × 0.5 hours = 6 hours of driving
• 36 hours + 6 hours = 42 hours a week

Now work out your real hourly rate for the whole week, before costs:

• $1,920 ÷ 42 hours = about $45.71 an hour

And after costs (but before taxes), using the monthly profit from the table:

• $6,730 ÷ 4 weeks = $1,682.50 a week
• $1,682.50 ÷ 42 hours = about $40.06 an hour

That’s why raising prices and cutting wasted time usually beats squeezing in more homes.

Ways to make more money as a solo cleaner

1. Price every job on purpose

Small price changes add up fast. In Example 2, raising your price by $10 a clean:

• $10 × 12 cleans = $120 more a week
• $120 × 48 weeks = $5,760 more a year, with no extra hours

If you’re not sure your prices are right, read how to price house cleaning or try the free cleaning price calculator. Price deep cleans and move-out cleans higher than standard cleans, since they take longer.

2. Keep recurring clients

A client you clean for every two weeks is worth far more than a one-time job. At $160 a visit, if they book every other week all year:

• 52 weeks ÷ 2 = 26 visits a year
• 26 × $160 = $4,160 a year from one client

Remembering the little things (the gate code, the dog’s name, the desk they don’t want touched) is a big part of why clients stay.

3. Cut your drive time

Driving time is unpaid time. Try to book homes in the same area on the same day, and say no to jobs so far away that the drive eats your profit.

4. Get paid for every clean

A clean you never get paid for is pure loss: you still paid for the gas and supplies. Keep a list of who owes you and follow up quickly.

5. Know your real numbers

Write down your costs each month in whatever way suits you. For the money coming in, CleanPal’s Money screen adds up the cleans you marked done this month and what you’ve been paid this month, and “Owed to you” is the total of your Unpaid list, so you can see who still owes you. CleanPal also prices every quote from your own rates, using the same math every time.

Start your free CleanPal trial.

6. Plan your startup costs too

If you’re just getting going, your first few weeks of income go toward paying back what you spent to start. See our guide to the cost to start a cleaning business for example budgets and a break-even example.

Quick recap

• How much cleaning businesses make depends on your price, your cleans per week and your costs.
• BLS lists a May 2025 median annual wage of $35,510 for employed maids and housekeeping cleaners, about $17.07 an hour over a full-time year. That doesn’t include self-employed cleaners.
• In our full-time example, 12 cleans a week at $160 comes to $92,160 a year in revenue and $6,730 a month in profit before taxes.
• Set money aside for self-employment tax (15.3%) and income tax from every job.
• The fastest ways to earn more are better prices, recurring clients, less driving and making sure every clean gets paid.