How much should I charge for a deep clean?
By OwnerKits Editorial · Reviewed before publishing · · 4 min read
Short answer
Price a deep clean from the hours it really takes, then check the result against your market. If a standard clean of a home takes you 3.5 hours and a deep clean takes 5, the deep clean needs to cost about 1.4 times as much before you add anything for extra supplies. National cost guides put a deep clean of a 2,000 sq ft home at about $200 to $600, so use those numbers as a check and not as your price.
What makes it a deep clean
A deep clean has to mean something specific, or the customer will expect it to include everything. Write your list down. It usually goes beyond a standard clean with baseboards, light fixtures, door frames, the areas behind appliances and heavier scrubbing of floors, tubs and toilets.
A home that has had little upkeep takes far longer than one you clean every two weeks. A cleaning expert quoted by Fixr says a one-time deep clean can cost more than twice a standard clean. That is why many businesses price the first visit to a new customer as a deep clean.
What the guides show
HomeGuide: $0.11 to $0.30 per square foot for a deep clean, against $0.10 to $0.17 for a regular clean
HomeGuide by home size: $150 to $300 for 1,000 sq ft or less, $300 to $600 for 2,000 sq ft and $450 to $900 for 3,000 sq ft
HomeGuide by bedrooms: $180 to $280 for a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home
Fixr: $0.10 to $0.30 per square foot, or $200 to $600 for 2,000 sq ft
These ranges are wide and they don't fully agree with each other, which is a good reason not to copy one. Call two or three local companies and ask what they would charge for a home like the one you're quoting.
Price add-ons separately
Keep extras off the base price unless your written list includes them. HomeGuide's average add-on prices are $15 to $35 for an inside oven, $12 to $50 for a fridge, $25 to $45 or more for inside cabinets and $4 to $7 per window for inside window cleaning.
Steps
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Write your deep clean list
List exactly what is included beyond a standard clean and what costs extra. Put the list on the quote so you and the customer are working from the same page.
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See the home before you quote
Walk through it or ask for photos of the kitchen, bathrooms and floors. Ask when it last had a professional clean, and ask about pets and clutter.
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Estimate your hours
Use hours from jobs you have timed. If you haven't timed one yet, make your best estimate, track the actual time on your first few deep cleans and adjust your price list.
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Add your costs and margin
Multiply the hours by what you pay per hour, then add supplies, travel and a share of overhead. Divide the total by 0.80 for a 20% margin. That number is your floor.
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Check the market and set the price
Compare your floor with the guides and local quotes. If your floor is well below the market, price closer to the market. If it is above, look at your hours and travel before you cut the price.
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Quote a fixed price with a limit
Say the price covers the written list for the home as described. If the home turns out much dirtier than the photos showed, stop and agree on a new price before you carry on.
Worked example
Say you're quoting a one-time deep clean of a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 2,000 sq ft home. You work alone, and these numbers are examples to replace with your own. Labor: 5 hours × $25 = $125.00 Supplies: $8.00 Travel: 16 miles × $0.76 = $12.16 Overhead share: $10.00 Total cost: $155.16 With a 20% margin: $155.16 ÷ 0.80 = $193.95 So about $194 is your floor. HomeGuide's range for this size starts at $300. Scaling a $200 standard price by hours gives $200 × 5 ÷ 3.5 = about $286. At 18 cents per square foot you would quote 2,000 × $0.18 = $360. At $360 you keep $360 − $8 − $12.16 − $10 = $329.84, or about $66 per labor hour before taxes. That has to cover your own pay, unpaid admin time and slow weeks. If the customer adds an inside oven at $30 and an inside fridge at $25, the total comes to $415. Set the free calculator to Deep clean and One-time to see the same floor. It suggests $220 here, the bottom of the national range. Treat that as a starting point, not a target.
Common mistakes
- Charging your recurring price for the first visit. A home without regular upkeep takes much longer.
- Adding a flat percentage without timing the work. Your own hours are the number that protects your margin.
- Leaving the oven, fridge and inside windows vague. Customers will assume they are included.
- Quoting a fixed price without seeing the home or keeping the right to adjust it.
- Forgetting travel and overhead, then wondering why a full day didn't pay.
Try it with your own numbers
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Guides to read next
- How Much to Charge for House Cleaning: 2026 Pricing Guide
What US house cleaners charge in 2026 per hour, per square foot and per visit, plus a simple way to set a price that covers your costs, with a worked quote for a 3-bed, 2,000 sq ft home.