Cleaning Employee True Cost Calculator
That $16/hr cleaner actually costs you $30 to $38 per hour. See every cost before you set your rates.
Employee Pay
What you pay this cleaning employee per hour, before any employer costs.
Country
Mandatory employer costs change by country. Select yours.
Mandatory Employer Costs
These are required by law. You pay them on top of every dollar of wages.
Benefits You Provide
Toggle on the benefits you offer. Only include what you actually pay for.
Productivity
Not every paid hour is productive cleaning work. Factor in drive time, paperwork, breaks, and downtime.
True Employee Cost
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per productive hour
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per paid hour
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fully loaded annual cost
Adjust the inputs on the left to see your numbers update in real time.
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True Employee Cost for Cleaning Companies
Cleaning businesses run on thin margins and high volume. A $16/hr cleaner looks affordable until you add up payroll taxes, workers comp, the vehicle, supplies, and the time they spend driving between properties instead of cleaning.
The real cost is $30 to $38 per hour per cleaner. On a 2 person team, that is $60 to $76/hr in total cost. If you priced your services based on $32/hr for two people, you are losing money on every clean.
This calculator shows you the full cost per cleaner and per productive hour. Use it to set prices that actually cover your costs.
Mandatory Employer Costs for Cleaning
Mandatory costs for cleaners add 18% to 24% on top of wages. FICA is 7.65%. State unemployment is 2% to 4%. Workers comp for cleaning is 2.5% to 4.5%, one of the lower rates in field work. On a $16/hr cleaner, mandatory costs add $2.88 to $3.84/hr. That is $5,240 to $6,988 per year per cleaner in costs you cannot avoid.
The Productivity Gap in Cleaning
Cleaning companies lose productivity to drive time and walkthroughs. A team doing 4 residential cleans per day with 25 minutes of drive time between each loses 1.75 hours to travel. Add in walkthrough time with new customers, key pickup, and supply restocking, and 30% to 40% of the paid day is non-cleaning time. If a 2 person team costs $70/hr burdened and cleans for 5.5 of 8 paid hours, the real cost per cleaning hour is $102.
Tips for Cleaning Employee Costing
- Schedule by zone. Driving 10 minutes between homes instead of 25 saves 1 hour per team per day. At $70/hr team cost, that is $70/day or $1,470/month in recovered productivity per team.
- Supply cost per clean should be $8 to $15 for residential. Buy concentrates in bulk and standardize your product list. A $3 per clean savings across 80 cleans per month is $240 in margin.
- Turnover is your biggest hidden cost in cleaning. Hiring, training, and lost productivity during onboarding costs $1,500 to $3,000 per employee. Factor that into your per-employee cost if your turnover rate is above 30% per year.
- Track time per clean by property. If a recurring customer "always takes an extra 30 minutes," that is $35 in labor cost per visit you are eating. Reprice or renegotiate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a cleaner really cost per hour to employ?
A cleaner making $16 per hour costs $30 to $38 per hour in total employer cost. Mandatory payroll costs add 18% to 24%. Workers comp for cleaning is 2.5% to 4.5%, one of the lower rates in field work. Vehicle costs and supplies push the total to 1.9x to 2.4x base wages. On a 2 person team, the true cost is $60 to $76/hr, not $32/hr.
What is the labor burden rate for cleaning companies?
Cleaning labor burden is 18% to 24% for mandatory costs. Workers comp runs 2.5% to 4.5% (lower risk than most trades). Total burden with vehicle, supplies, and any benefits reaches 85% to 135% of base wages. Cleaning has lower per-employee costs than HVAC or plumbing, but the lower wage base means the burden percentage is higher.
What is workers comp for cleaning employees?
Workers comp for cleaning employees runs 2.5% to 4.5% of gross payroll. Residential cleaning is on the lower end. Commercial cleaning with floor machines and chemical exposure rates slightly higher. A $16/hr cleaner with 3.5% workers comp costs $0.56/hr for that item. That is $1,018 per cleaner per year.
How do you calculate cleaning crew cost per house?
Take the fully burdened cost per crew member ($30 to $38/hr for a $16/hr cleaner), multiply by crew size, then multiply by hours per clean. A 2 person team at $34/hr burdened cost spending 2.5 hours on a home costs $170 in labor. Add $12 to $20 in supplies and your hard cost per clean is $182 to $190. Price above that for profit.
What percentage of cleaning labor hours are productive?
Cleaning crews are productive 60% to 70% of paid hours. Drive time between properties eats 25% to 35% of the day for most residential cleaning companies. A team doing 4 homes per day with 20 to 30 minutes of drive time between each loses 1.5 to 2 hours to travel. Scheduling homes in the same neighborhood on the same day is the single best way to improve this ratio.
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