How much do house cleaners make? Pay by state, and what a cleaning business keeps
How much do house cleaners make? An employed house cleaner in the US earns a median of $17.07 an hour, or $35,510 a year working full time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cleaners who work for themselves and charge by the job bring in more per hour and carry their own costs. An owner with a team earns from the gap between what the client pays and what the cleaner is paid. This guide gives the numbers for each of the three, with pay for every state.
How much house cleaners make per hour and per year
These are the national figures for maids and housekeeping cleaners from the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, which counted 860,670 people in the job. The average is $17.83 an hour, or $37,080 a year.
| Where a cleaner falls | Per hour | Per year, full time |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10% | $13.29 | $27,640 |
| Lowest 25% | $14.59 | $30,350 |
| Median | $17.07 | $35,510 |
| Top 25% | $19.03 | $39,590 |
| Top 10% | $23.35 | $48,570 |
Two things to know when you read this table. The survey covers people on a payroll, including hotel and hospital housekeepers, and leaves out self-employed cleaners and anyone a family hires directly. The yearly column also assumes 2,080 paid hours, and plenty of cleaners work fewer than that.
House cleaner pay by state
Hawaii pays the most, at a median of $24.81 an hour. Nevada, California, the District of Columbia, Washington and New York are the only other places above $20. Mississippi is lowest at $12.19. The figures are medians for employed cleaners from the same May 2025 survey.
| State | Median per hour | Median per year |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $13.21 | $27,480 |
| Alaska | $17.97 | $37,370 |
| Arizona | $17.13 | $35,640 |
| Arkansas | $13.44 | $27,960 |
| California | $20.51 | $42,660 |
| Colorado | $18.06 | $37,560 |
| Connecticut | $17.39 | $36,170 |
| Delaware | $16.42 | $34,150 |
| District of Columbia | $20.32 | $42,260 |
| Florida | $16.28 | $33,860 |
| Georgia | $14.31 | $29,770 |
| Hawaii | $24.81 | $51,600 |
| Idaho | $16.62 | $34,560 |
| Illinois | $17.49 | $36,380 |
| Indiana | $15.11 | $31,420 |
| Iowa | $15.68 | $32,620 |
| Kansas | $14.95 | $31,100 |
| Kentucky | $14.85 | $30,880 |
| Louisiana | $12.79 | $26,600 |
| Maine | $18.09 | $37,630 |
| Maryland | $17.07 | $35,500 |
| Massachusetts | $18.73 | $38,950 |
| Michigan | $16.66 | $34,650 |
| Minnesota | $18.01 | $37,470 |
| Mississippi | $12.19 | $25,360 |
| Missouri | $16.19 | $33,670 |
| Montana | $17.18 | $35,740 |
| Nebraska | $16.43 | $34,170 |
| Nevada | $22.38 | $46,550 |
| New Hampshire | $17.75 | $36,920 |
| New Jersey | $18.26 | $37,980 |
| New Mexico | $14.65 | $30,480 |
| New York | $20.17 | $41,950 |
| North Carolina | $15.05 | $31,310 |
| North Dakota | $16.85 | $35,050 |
| Ohio | $15.47 | $32,170 |
| Oklahoma | $13.76 | $28,620 |
| Oregon | $18.07 | $37,590 |
| Pennsylvania | $16.29 | $33,870 |
| Rhode Island | $18.05 | $37,540 |
| South Carolina | $14.55 | $30,260 |
| South Dakota | $14.40 | $29,950 |
| Tennessee | $14.83 | $30,850 |
| Texas | $14.26 | $29,660 |
| Utah | $17.44 | $36,270 |
| Vermont | $18.12 | $37,680 |
| Virginia | $16.26 | $33,820 |
| Washington | $20.28 | $42,180 |
| West Virginia | $13.51 | $28,090 |
| Wisconsin | $17.08 | $35,530 |
| Wyoming | $15.32 | $31,870 |
How much self-employed house cleaners make
A self-employed cleaner keeps the whole price of the job, so the answer depends on what they charge. We recommend a flat price per job based on square footage and service type, and how much to charge for house cleaning has the full price table. Two examples from it:
- A deep clean of a 1,500 sq ft home with the oven and fridge is $460 and takes about 5 hours. That's $92 for each hour of cleaning.
- A biweekly clean of the same home is $195 less the 15% recurring discount, which comes to $165.75 a visit. If a visit takes you three hours, that's about $55 an hour.
Ten of those biweekly visits a week is $1,657.50 a week, or about $7,180 a month, from 20 regular clients.
That figure is sales. Out of it you pay for supplies, gas, insurance and the hours nobody pays you for: driving between homes, quoting, texting clients and chasing payments. You also pay self-employment tax of 15.3% on your net earnings, on top of income tax, and you have no paid time off. A solo cleaner charging these prices still ends up well ahead of the $17.07 median wage. To see what your own prices come to, run a few homes through the cleaning price calculator.
How much does a cleaning business make?
Once you have cleaners doing the work, you earn the difference between the price of the job and what you pay the cleaner. These are the per-job examples from our Road to 10K guide.
| Job | Customer paid | Cleaner paid | Business keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep clean, 1,500 sq ft, with oven and fridge | $460 | $175 | $285 (62%) |
| Recurring client, bathrooms only, per month | $250 | $110 | $140 (56%) |
| Move-out clean, empty apartment | $515 | $130 | $385 (75%) |
| Post-construction clean, new build | $900 | $300 | $600 (67%) |
The last column is what's left after cleaner pay. Insurance, supplies, software, card processing fees, marketing and taxes still come out of it.
To put a monthly number on it: 52 standard cleans of a 1,500 sq ft home at $195 is $10,140 in sales, which is 12 cleans a week. At the margins in the table, $10,000 in sales leaves roughly $5,600 to $7,500 after cleaner pay and before those other costs. If you're comparing cleaning with other trades, the most profitable service businesses to start has that comparison.
What to pay the cleaners who work for you
In the deep clean example above, the cleaner earns $35 an hour, about twice the national median. Paying at that level is how a small company gets good cleaners to stay, and the prices in the table leave room for it. It's also why the guide sets minimum prices ($200 for a deep clean, $150 for a standard clean). Below them you can't pay a cleaner well and still make a profit.
Many owners pay per job. The cleaner knows what a home pays before they accept it, and you know your margin before the job starts. How to hire cleaners covers the job post and interviews.
Whether your cleaners are employees or independent contractors changes what you owe in payroll taxes and how much you can direct their work. The IRS explains how it tells the two apart. Ask an accountant before you bring on your first cleaner.
How to make more from each job
- Charge per job. A flat price pays you for the clean, so you earn more per hour as you get faster.
- Hold your minimum prices. When a client pushes back, negotiate down from your quote and stop at your floor.
- Offer add-ons when the client books. Inside the oven, inside the fridge and interior windows can add $50 to $100 to a job.
- Turn one-time cleans into regulars. Start with a deep clean, then offer a recurring plan at 5% off monthly, 15% off biweekly or 20% off weekly.
- Fill the week with regulars before you look for more one-off jobs. How to get clients for a cleaning business covers where to find them.
Spend your hours on paid work
Quoting, scheduling, reminders and collecting payment are the hours that pull a solo cleaner's real hourly rate down. With BookedEZ, clients see their price and book online, add-ons included. They get an automatic reminder before each visit, and you charge their saved card after the clean. Each cleaner gets the job's address and checklist on their phone. From $29 a month for your whole team, and the first 14 days are free.
Common questions
How much do house cleaners make an hour?
The median wage for employed maids and housekeeping cleaners in the US is $17.07 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025). The lowest-paid 10% earn under $13.29 and the highest-paid 10% earn over $23.35. Self-employed cleaners who charge a flat price per job usually bring in more per hour of cleaning, before their own costs and taxes.
How much do house cleaners make a year?
The median for a full-time employed house cleaner is $35,510 a year and the average is $37,080 (BLS, May 2025). The top 10% earn more than $48,570. Many cleaners work part time, so their yearly total is lower than the full-time figure.
Do self-employed house cleaners make more?
Per hour of cleaning, usually yes, because the whole price of the job goes to them. A 1,500 sq ft deep clean with the oven and fridge priced at $460 takes about 5 hours, which is $92 per hour of work. Out of that they pay for supplies, gas, insurance, unpaid travel and admin time, and self-employment tax of 15.3% on net earnings.
How much does a cleaning business make?
It depends on how many jobs you book and what you pay your cleaners. In the per-job examples from our Road to 10K guide, the business keeps between 56% and 75% of the price after paying the cleaner: $285 on a $460 deep clean, $385 on a $515 move-out clean and $600 on a $900 post-construction clean. Insurance, supplies, software, card fees and taxes come out of that.
Which state pays house cleaners the most?
Hawaii, at a median of $24.81 an hour, followed by Nevada at $22.38 and California at $20.51. Mississippi is lowest at $12.19 an hour (BLS, May 2025).
How much do house cleaners make in California, Texas, Florida and New York?
The median hourly wage for employed house cleaners is $20.51 in California, $20.17 in New York, $16.28 in Florida and $14.26 in Texas (BLS, May 2025).
Thinking about going out on your own? Read how to start a cleaning business. Already running one? Check your prices against how much to charge for house cleaning.