Cleaning hourly rate calculator
Most cleaners set a rate by copying whatever the person down the road charges. That ignores your overheads, your unpaid travel and admin time, and the weeks you are not working.
Work backwards instead. Start from what you need to earn, add your costs, then divide by the hours you can actually bill.
Why billable hours matter more than working hours
A full working week is rarely a full billable week. Travel, quoting, invoicing, restocking and cancellations all eat into it, and holidays and sickness remove whole weeks from the year.
If you price against your working hours rather than your billable hours, you will consistently undercharge, and the gap only shows up as exhaustion at the end of the year.
Using the result
The output is a floor, not a ceiling. Specialist work, awkward access, short-notice jobs and demanding sites should all sit above it.
Quote by the job rather than by the hour where you can, but use this rate to sanity-check every quote before you send it.
Frequently asked questions
Should I show my hourly rate to clients?
Usually not. Fixed job prices are easier for clients to compare and to say yes to, and they reward you for getting faster instead of penalising you.
How often should I review my rate?
At least once a year, and any time your costs, insurance or wage bill change noticeably. Review at a natural point such as a contract anniversary.
What if my calculated rate is above the local market?
That is information, not a failure. Either your costs are higher than average and need trimming, or you need to position on reliability and quality rather than price.
More free resources: all calculators, templates & checklists, cleaning business guides.