Key takeaways:
If you’re curious about how much house cleaners earn and what affects their income in 2025, this guide breaks it all down for you.
- Average pay varies significantly. House cleaners in the U.S. typically earn between $20,000 and $48,500 annually, with hourly rates ranging from around $9.62 to $23.32, depending on experience, location, and the type of services provided.
- Location impacts salary potential. Cities and states with higher costs of living, like those in California or places like Aspen and Nantucket, offer the highest wages—sometimes exceeding $52,000 per year.
- Additional benefits and career growth are possible. Many cleaning jobs come with benefits beyond wages, such as medical insurance, paid time off, and growth opportunities to move up or start your own cleaning business.
- Several factors influence earnings. Your employer, experience, location, service offerings, job title, and overtime all impact how much you can make as a house cleaner.
- Business owners have even greater earning potential. Owning a cleaning company can push income well beyond traditional cleaner wages, with some business owners making $150,000 or more by scaling up.
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In the United States, the average salary for a house cleaner is $20,000 to $48,500. Your exact salary will vary depending on your experience level, where you live, and what types of general cleaning services you provide.
House cleaning is a rewarding career with low start-up costs and high demand. In this article, we’ll outline how much house cleaners earn, factors that affect their salaries, and what your long-term income potential could be.
Breakdown of house cleaner salary
The average annual salary of a house cleaner is $20,000 to $48,500. This range is based on an hourly wage from $9.62 – $23.32 and a 40-hour work week.
Your paycheck will be on the higher end of this range if you earn a higher hourly wage, live in an area with a higher cost of living, or offer additional cleaning services like window cleaning or carpet cleaning.
Let’s break down that annual salary into more detail and explore how much you can make as a residential cleaner.
How much do house cleaners make a year?
The average salary for a house cleaner in the United States is $35,034. Many cleaners will earn up to $44,000, although a select few can make up to $48,500. The amount varies depending on your location, experience, and cleaning services.
How much do house cleaners make in a month?
On average, house cleaners make $2,919 a month before taxes. Your paycheck would look different depending on your hourly rate and whether you work longer hours or offer specialty cleaning services.
How much do house cleaners make per week?
House cleaners make an average weekly salary of $673 before taxes. This can be higher or lower depending on how many hours you work.
For example, say your average week is 40 hours, but you work an additional 15 hours and earn time-and-a-half. Your weekly paycheck could go up to $928.
How much do house cleaners make a day?
If you make the average house cleaner wage of $17/hour and you work 8 hours a day, you’ll make $136 a day before taxes. This doesn’t account for any unpaid breaks or overtime.
I actually didn’t know I could make so much money cleaning.
I made over a thousand dollars in one day. That was amazing. I was doing cartwheels.
How much do house cleaners make per hour?
The average wage for a house cleaner is $17/hour before taxes. Your hourly rate will vary depending on your employer, your years of experience, and your state’s minimum wage.
House cleaner salary by location
Your wages as a house cleaner will vary depending on where you live and work. The cost of living and local demand for home cleaning services will affect your professional cleaning salary.
This guide includes house cleaner salaries for the top 10 highest-paying U.S. cities and states.
Highest-paying U.S. cities for house cleaners
Below are the top 10 highest-paying U.S. cities for house cleaners. We’ve included hourly, monthly, and annual salaries for each.
| City/State | Hourly Wage | Monthly Wage | Annual Salary |
| Soledad, CA | $25.20 | $4,367 | $52,408 |
| Portola Valley, CA | $23.48 | $4,069 | $48,831 |
| Occidental, CA | $20.93 | $3,627 | $43,525 |
| Cupertino, CA | $20.78 | $3,601 | $43,223 |
| Nantucket, MA | $20.73 | $3,592 | $43,109 |
| California City, CA | $20.66 | $3,580 | $42,968 |
| Berkeley, CA | $20.62 | $3,574 | $42,897 |
| Redwood City, CA | $20.62 | $3,574 | $42,894 |
| Aspen, CO | $20.36 | $3,528 | $42,346 |
| South San Francisco, CA | $20.24 | $3,508 | $42,100 |
Most of these cities are located in California, which has a higher cost of living than many other U.S. states. House cleaners often need higher wages to cover their living expenses.
The two remaining cities, Nantucket and Aspen, are popular cities for vacation homes. There’s high demand for a housekeeper or maid service to keep homes clean while the owners are away.
READ MORE: How to Get Airbnb Cleaning Jobs
House cleaner salary by state
When you’re a residential cleaner, you’ll earn a higher wage in some states compared to others. Here’s how salaries break down by state (the highest is in Washington at $39,680 a year):
| State | Hourly Wage | Monthly Wage | Annual Salary |
| Alabama | $15.27 | $2,646 | $31,754 |
| Alaska | $18.14 | $3,144 | $37,730 |
| Arizona | $15.70 | $2,720 | $32,648 |
| Arkansas | $13.93 | $2,414 | $28,970 |
| California | $16.62 | $2,881 | $34,575 |
| Colorado | $17.71 | $3,069 | $36,839 |
| Connecticut | $16.02 | $2,777 | $33,327 |
| Delaware | $16.86 | $2,922 | $35,064 |
| Florida | $12.59 | $2,181 | $26,181 |
| Georgia | $14.22 | $2,465 | $29,582 |
| Hawaii | $17.50 | $3,033 | $36,399 |
| Idaho | $15.85 | $2,746 | $32,963 |
| Illinois | $16.32 | $2,829 | $33,949 |
| Indiana | $16.03 | $2,778 | $33,337 |
| Iowa | $15.82 | $2,742 | $32,906 |
| Kansas | $15.02 | $2,603 | $31,245 |
| Kentucky | $14.63 | $2,535 | $30,428 |
| Louisiana | $14.40 | $2,496 | $29,959 |
| Maine | $16.31 | $2,826 | $33,920 |
| Maryland | $16.35 | $2,833 | $34,002 |
| Massachusetts | $18.40 | $3,188 | $38,262 |
| Michigan | $14.68 | $2,544 | $30,536 |
| Minnesota | $16.50 | $2,859 | $34,313 |
| Mississippi | $15.95 | $2,765 | $33,180 |
| Missouri | $15.80 | $2,738 | $32,862 |
| Montana | $15.46 | $2,679 | $32,156 |
| Nebraska | $16.06 | $2,783 | $33,403 |
| Nevada | $17.15 | $2,972 | $35,675 |
| New Hampshire | $16.38 | $2,839 | $34,071 |
| New Jersey | $17.10 | $2,964 | $35,568 |
| New Mexico | $16.32 | $2,829 | $33,951 |
| New York | $18.43 | $3,194 | $38,329 |
| North Carolina | $15.31 | $2,653 | $31,839 |
| North Dakota | $17.82 | $3,089 | $37,069 |
| Ohio | $16.01 | $2,775 | $33,307 |
| Oklahoma | $15.55 | $2,695 | $32,348 |
| Oregon | $17.81 | $3,086 | $37,041 |
| Pennsylvania | $16.88 | $2,926 | $35,118 |
| Rhode Island | $16.49 | $2,859 | $34,309 |
| South Carolina | $15.63 | $2,709 | $32,510 |
| South Dakota | $16.84 | $2,919 | $35,034 |
| Tennessee | $15.29 | $2,649 | $31,798 |
| Texas | $15.69 | $2,720 | $32,640 |
| Utah | $15.33 | $2,657 | $31,894 |
| Vermont | $17.91 | $3,104 | $37,250 |
| Virginia | $16.70 | $2,894 | $34,734 |
| Washington | $19.08 | $3,306 | $39,680 |
| Washington, D.C. | $19.03 | $3,299 | $39,590 |
| West Virginia | $13.04 | $2,260 | $27,122 |
| Wisconsin | $17.00 | $2,946 | $35,362 |
| Wyoming | $16.19 | $2,806 | $33,676 |
Other benefits for house cleaners
If you work for a cleaning company, you could earn more compensation than just wages. Your job might come with extra benefits like:
- Medical insurance, including dental and vision
- Paid vacation days, sick days, and personal days
- Employee loyalty and referral programs
- Retirement plans and 401(k) options
- Profit sharing
Depending on the company’s size, you might also get the chance to grow your career. You could work your way up from a cleaner to a team lead—or even branch out and start your own cleaning business.
Factors that affect house cleaner salaries
Your professional cleaning salary will change over time based on several different factors, such as:
- Employer: Different cleaning companies will pay different wages. You can earn more as an independent cleaner, but you’ll also have to pay for your own cleaning supplies, transportation, and other expenses.
- Experience: A newer cleaner often needs more time to clean, so they earn a lower hourly wage. A more experienced cleaner can work faster and charge higher rates. Expect to make more money as you grow your skills and speed up your work.
- Job title: House cleaners can make a good wage as part of a team. But you can earn even more if you get promoted to team lead or another supervisor position.
- Location: Cleaning salaries vary by city and state. Areas like California have a higher cost of living, so cleaners need to make more money to live there. Cities like Aspen and Nantucket also pay more because higher-income clients own vacation homes that need upkeep when they aren’t around.
- Services: If you provide less common types of cleaning services, like home organization or upholstery cleaning, you can charge higher rates for your work.
- Overtime: When you work more hours, you usually make more money. Overtime should be at least 1.5x your hourly rate. So if you’re making $17/hour, your overtime rate is $25.50.
When you know why some salaries are higher or lower, you can understand your potential earnings and find the salary that’s right for you.
Income potential for cleaning business owners
Interested in boosting your income and making more as a residential cleaner? Consider starting a cleaning business or a cleaning franchise.
As a cleaning business owner, you can earn anywhere from $25,500 to $339,500 a year. It all depends on the business’s revenue, expenses, and profit margin, as well as how much you pay yourself.
You can make more money when you hire cleaning employees, get more cleaning clients, and start to scale the company. And you can earn even more with high-paying commercial cleaning contracts.
Grow your cleaning business faster when you use cleaning software like Jobber. It helps you schedule visits, manage your team, organize job details, send estimates, invoice clients, and get paid.
$1,000 a day is my new standard goal.
I make up to $5,000 a week. You can earn up to $17,500 a month or more. Last year, the Red Rose made $150,000, and this year we’re hoping to make $250,000.
How to set house cleaning rates
Deciding how much to charge for house cleaning takes research and planning. Make sure your rates cover your costs, reflect your experience, and stay competitive in your area.
Follow these steps to set profitable prices for your house cleaning services:
- Check local pricing. See what other house cleaners in your area charge and use that as a starting point. Adjust based on your experience, service quality, and local demand.
- Adjust for home size. Larger homes usually take more time to clean, so factor that into your pricing. You can set flat rates for different home sizes based on estimated hours.
- Factor in overhead costs. Estimate monthly expenses for cleaning products, labor, transportation, and other costs (including your own salary) to ensure they don’t cut into your profits.
- Add in profit margin. Instead of taking home every dollar your company earns, it’s best to maintain a healthy profit margin so you can invest revenue back into the business.
- Pick your pricing model. Decide whether you’ll charge by the hour, room, square foot, or service type. There’s no wrong answer as long as the client understands the price and is willing to pay it.
- Set service rates. Different cleaning tasks take different amounts of time. A regular cleaning takes less time than deep cleaning, move-out cleaning, or construction clean-up, so charge accordingly.
- Offer discounts for recurring clients. If clients book weekly or biweekly cleanings, you can offer a small discount to build consistent income while rewarding customer loyalty.
Start making money as a house cleaner today
A cleaning business can be profitable and can give you a long-term career in an industry that’s always in high demand. The more you clean, the better and faster you get—and the more money you can make.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Professional house cleaning costs $100–200 per cleaning appointment. This amount can vary depending on the home’s square footage, cleaning frequency, and how many cleaners are working.
Standard cleaning services include dusting, wiping surfaces, vacuuming and mopping floors, and scrubbing bathroom fixtures. You should charge extra for thorough cleaning tasks that take longer and cost more, like oven cleaning and baseboard cleaning.
READ MORE: How much to charge for house cleaning -
House cleaners can make good money in areas with a high cost of living or high demand for services. Wages are also higher in vacation and resort towns where homeowners aren’t present year-round.
The highest-paying city in the U.S. is Soledad, CA ($52,408), while Washington is the highest-paying state ($39,680) on average. -
The lowest-paying states for house cleaners are:
• Florida: $26,181
• West Virginia: $27,122
• Arkansas: $28,970
• Georgia: $29,582
• Louisiana: $29,959 -
The top 5 highest-paying states in the U.S. for house cleaners are:
• Washington: $$39,680
• Washington, D.C.: $39,590
• New York: $38,329
• Massachusetts: $38,262
• Alaska: $37,730