A compiled reference of 20 verified statistics on commercial cleaning and janitorial rates. It covers per-square-foot rates by facility type, hourly and per-visit pricing, specialty line items, the labor economics inside every rate, and the size of the market. Every figure names its source (published pricing guides from Jobber and Housecall Pro, US Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, the ISSA/BSCAI contractor survey, Marketdata's industry study) and was independently checked before publishing.
Key statistics
6 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Commercial cleaning is priced by the square foot, but it is paid for by the hour. Every rate on this page sits on top of the same base: a $17.71 median wage, labor that eats half of contractor revenue, and an industry that must refill hundreds of thousands of seats every year.
Office cleaning runs $0.05 to $0.20 per square foot across two pricing guides.
Healthcare pays the top cleaning rate: $0.20 to $0.40 per square foot.
Commercial cleaning bills $30 to $75 per hour.
America's 2.2 million janitors earn a median $17.71 an hour.
At 72% of cleaning contractors, labor eats more than half of revenue.
351,300 janitor openings every year, mostly to replace people who left.
How we built this report
Every figure was compiled in August 2026 from named public sources and verified against the original before publishing.
- Compiled from primary sources
Published pricing guides from field service software companies, federal wage and employment data, and an industry contractor survey.
- Only explicitly stated figures
We include only numbers a named source states directly, and attribute each one inline where it appears.
- Disagreements shown, not averaged
Where sources give different numbers, we show both rather than blending them into a false single figure.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
A note on reading these numbers. The rate guides come from Jobber and Housecall Pro, software companies whose customers are cleaning businesses; their ranges describe what their users quote, not an audited market survey. Where the two disagree, we show both. Wage and employment figures are federal data. Confirm any figure against the named source before relying on it.
Commercial cleaning rates, by the numbers
All 20 figures, grouped by theme. Each one names its source and was independently verified.
Rates per square foot
Two widely used pricing guides publish per-square-foot ranges: Jobber (getjobber.com) and Housecall Pro (housecallpro.com), both field service software companies whose users are cleaning businesses. Their ranges overlap but do not match, so we show both.
Statistic 1
Office cleaning runs $0.05 to $0.15 per square foot in Jobber's guide, and $0.07 to $0.20 in Housecall Pro's.
Jobber; Housecall Pro pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 2
Healthcare facilities pay the most: $0.20 to $0.40 per square foot. Restaurants run $0.15 to $0.40.
Jobber commercial pricing guide (2026)
Statistic 3
Retail spaces run $0.07 to $0.20 per square foot (Jobber) or $0.08 to $0.18 (Housecall Pro). Industrial runs $0.10 to $0.30 (Jobber) or $0.10 to $0.20 (Housecall Pro).
Jobber; Housecall Pro pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 4
Post-construction cleaning runs $0.15 to $0.30 per square foot.
Housecall Pro pricing guide (2026)
What this means: The building type sets the rate. The more regulated the space and the higher the stakes of a miss, the more each square foot costs to clean. Healthcare pays 3 to 4 times the office rate.
Hourly and per-visit pricing
Smaller jobs are quoted by the hour or by the visit instead of the square foot. The same two guides publish those ranges.
Statistic 5
General commercial cleaning bills $30 to $75 per hour in Housecall Pro's guide, and $20 to $80 per cleaner per hour in Jobber's.
Housecall Pro; Jobber pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 6
Medical office cleaning commands $50 to $150 per hour.
Jobber commercial pricing guide (2026)
Statistic 7
A worked example: a 5,000 square foot office cleaned three times a week prices out at $607 per visit, about $1,200 a week.
Housecall Pro pricing guide (2026)
Statistic 8
Room-based quotes run $50 to $150 per room for offices, and $75 to $150 for medical rooms.
Jobber commercial pricing guide (2026)
What this means: A commercial cleaning hour bills at a multiple of the median janitor wage. The gap is not profit. It covers supervision, supplies, insurance, equipment, and the unbilled time between jobs.
Specialty line items
Beyond the base clean, the add-on menu is priced per square foot, per window, or per hour. These are the lines that turn a $607 visit into a four-figure invoice.
Statistic 9
Floor stripping and waxing runs $0.30 to $0.50 per square foot in Jobber's guide, and up to $0.80 in Housecall Pro's.
Jobber; Housecall Pro pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 10
Commercial carpet cleaning runs $0.08 to $0.40 per square foot in both guides.
Jobber; Housecall Pro pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 11
Window cleaning runs $2 to $5 per window (Jobber) or $2 to $7 per pane (Housecall Pro).
Jobber; Housecall Pro pricing guides (2026)
Statistic 12
Floor buffing runs $0.04 to $0.12 per square foot, and tile cleaning $0.12 to $0.21.
Jobber commercial pricing guide (2026)
What this means: Specialty floors are where quotes diverge most between guides. If a bid looks high, the floor care lines are usually why.
The labor inside every rate
Every per-square-foot rate is mostly a wage in disguise. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS (bls.gov), publishes the wage floor, and the ISSA/BSCAI contractor benchmarking survey (issa.com, bscai.org) shows how much of a cleaning company's revenue goes straight to field labor. Our cleaning industry turnover report covers the workforce side in depth.
Statistic 13
The US employs 2,209,760 janitors and cleaners at a median $17.71 per hour ($36,840 per year). The mean is $18.64.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS (May 2025)
Statistic 14
Janitor wages span $13.77 per hour at the 10th percentile to $24.17 at the 90th.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS (May 2025)
Statistic 15
Field labor costs exceed 50% of revenue at 72% of cleaning contractors, and exceed 60% at 41% of them.
ISSA/BSCAI contractor benchmarking survey (2017)
Statistic 16
BLS projects 351,300 openings for janitors and building cleaners every year through 2034, mostly to replace workers who leave.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (2024-34)
Statistic 17
Median tenure in building and grounds cleaning occupations is 3.5 years, down from 4.3 years a decade earlier.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employee tenure data (2024)
What this means: Labor is more than half the cost, and the workforce turns over constantly. Rates rise when wages rise, and quality depends on whoever was hired last month. That is why inspection and verification of the work, not just the contract rate, decides what a buyer actually gets.
The market these rates live in
The cleaning industry is enormous and fragmented. Marketdata's industry study, published through ISSA, sizes the residential half; BLS sizes the commercial workforce.
Statistic 18
The services-to-buildings-and-dwellings industry employs 829,300 janitors, the single largest employer of them.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS (May 2025)
Statistic 19
The US residential maid services industry generated $17.2 billion in 2025 across 32,270 companies, and 67% of them gross under $300,000 a year.
Marketdata residential maid services study (2026), via ISSA
Statistic 20
16% of US households, about 22 million, use a maid or residential cleaning service.
Marketdata residential maid services study (2026), via ISSA
What this means: Most cleaning companies are small. Two thirds gross less than $300,000 a year, which means the company quoting your building is probably pricing from a guide like the ones above, not a national rate card. Turnover cleaning rates for rentals live in our vacation rental cleaning cost guide.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How much does commercial cleaning cost per square foot?
Office cleaning runs $0.05 to $0.15 per square foot in Jobber's guide and $0.07 to $0.20 in Housecall Pro's. Healthcare facilities pay the most at $0.20 to $0.40. Retail, industrial, and restaurant spaces fall in between.
What do janitorial services charge per hour?
$30 to $75 per hour per Housecall Pro, or $20 to $80 per cleaner per hour per Jobber. Medical office cleaning commands $50 to $150 per hour. The billed hour costs far more than the $17.71 median janitor wage because it also covers supervision, supplies, insurance, and unbilled time.
Why is healthcare cleaning so much more expensive?
Healthcare runs $0.20 to $0.40 per square foot, roughly 3 to 4 times the office rate, per Jobber. The premium pays for stricter protocols, specialized disinfection, and higher stakes when something is missed.
How much of a cleaning rate is labor?
Most of it. Field labor exceeds 50% of revenue at 72% of cleaning contractors, and exceeds 60% at 41% of them, per the ISSA/BSCAI contractor survey. The underlying wage is a median $17.71 per hour across 2.2 million US janitors, per BLS.
Data sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these named sources, each checked against the original before publishing.
JobberCommercial cleaning pricing guide (2026)getjobber.com
Housecall ProCommercial cleaning price guide (2026)housecallpro.com
US Bureau of Labor StatisticsOEWS wage data (May 2025); Occupational Outlook Handbook; tenure databls.gov
ISSAContractor benchmarking survey with BSCAI; Marketdata industry study distributionissa.com
BSCAIBuilding service contractor benchmarking survey (2017)bscai.org
Marketdata LLCResidential maid services industry study (2026)marketdataenterprises.com