Pricing office cleaning is a different game from residential work. You're often bidding against other companies for a contract, walking a space you'll never see the client actually live in, and trying to estimate labor for tasks that happen after everyone's gone home. Get the rate wrong and you're either losing the bid or losing money for the next two years.
This guide covers how commercial cleaning rates actually work in the US, what drives the numbers, and how to build a quote that wins contracts without eating your margins.
How office cleaning is typically priced
Unlike house cleaning, which is usually quoted per visit, commercial cleaning contracts are priced three main ways:
- Price per square foot — most common for office bids. You calculate a rate per sq ft based on cleaning frequency and multiply by the total square footage.
- Hourly rate — used for smaller offices, one-off deep cleans, or when scope is unpredictable (post-construction, move-out cleans).
- Flat monthly contract — the client pays a fixed monthly fee regardless of how many hours it actually takes. This is what most janitorial contracts settle into once both sides know the space.
Most companies start with a square-footage or hourly estimate to build the quote, then convert it into a flat monthly rate for the actual contract. Clients like predictable invoicing, and you like knowing your monthly revenue in advance.
US average rates by pricing method
| Pricing method | Typical US range | UK equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Per square foot (nightly service) | $0.05–$0.20 per sq ft | £0.04–£0.16 per sq ft |
| Hourly rate (commercial) | $25–$50 per hour | £15–£25 per hour |
| Small office flat monthly (under 2,000 sq ft, 2x/week) | $300–$800/month | £250–£600/month |
| Mid-size office (5,000–10,000 sq ft, 5x/week) | $1,200–$3,500/month | £900–£2,800/month |
| Large office/corporate (20,000+ sq ft) | $4,000–$12,000+/month | £3,000–£9,000+/month |
These ranges shift a lot based on region — a downtown Manhattan or San Francisco office costs noticeably more to service than a similar space in a mid-size Midwest city. If you're still sorting out baseline hourly vs. flat pricing logic for smaller jobs, the house cleaning pricing guide covers that decision-making process in more depth — the same principles about labor cost, overhead, and profit margin apply here.
What actually drives the price
Square footage and layout
Raw size matters, but layout matters more. An open floor plan with 10,000 sq ft of cubicles cleans faster per square foot than a 5,000 sq ft office broken into 20 private rooms with private bathrooms. Always walk the space before quoting — never price off a floor plan alone.
Cleaning frequency
Nightly service costs less per visit than 2x/week service because your team is in a rhythm and the space never gets that dirty. Less frequent cleaning (once a week or biweekly) usually commands a higher per-visit rate because more buildup needs addressing each time.
Type of space
- Standard offices — trash, vacuuming, dusting, restrooms, kitchen. Baseline rate.
- Medical/dental offices — require disinfection protocols, sometimes OSHA/HIPAA-adjacent training. Add 20–40% over standard office rates.
- Restaurants/food service — grease, deep kitchen cleaning. Priced separately, often hourly.
- Coworking spaces — high foot traffic, frequent restroom servicing. Priced closer to retail rates.
Number of restrooms and kitchens
These are the highest labor-intensity areas per square foot. Many commercial bids add a flat fee per restroom ($5–$15 per cleaning visit) on top of the base square-footage rate.
Supplies and equipment
Decide upfront whether you're providing paper products, soap, trash liners, and cleaning chemicals, or whether the client stocks them. Supplying consumables typically adds $0.01–$0.03 per sq ft to your rate, or a flat $50–$150/month depending on headcount.
Building a quote step by step
- Walk the space and note square footage, restroom count, kitchen/break room size, and flooring type (carpet takes longer than hard flooring).
- Estimate labor hours based on frequency — a rough industry benchmark is 1,000–1,500 sq ft cleaned per hour for standard offices.
- Calculate labor cost: hours × your fully-loaded hourly wage (wage + payroll tax + workers' comp, typically 25–35% above base wage).
- Add supplies, equipment wear, and transportation.
- Add your margin — commercial cleaning contracts typically target 15–30% net margin once established.
- Convert the total to either a per sq ft rate or a flat monthly number, whichever the client expects to see in the proposal.
Contract structure matters as much as the rate
A low rate with a bad contract structure will hurt you more than a slightly higher rate with clear terms. When quoting, spell out:
- Exact scope — what's included nightly/weekly vs. what's billed as an add-on (windows, carpet shampooing, post-event cleanup).
- Contract length and renewal terms — many commercial contracts run 12 months with auto-renewal clauses.
- Rate escalation — a clause allowing a 3–5% annual increase tied to inflation or minimum wage changes protects you from being locked into a losing rate.
- Cancellation notice — 30–60 days is standard for either party.
Sole proprietor vs. LLC considerations for commercial contracts
Many commercial clients, especially property management companies and larger businesses, require proof of insurance and a signed W-9 before they'll sign a contract — and some specifically prefer contracting with an LLC over a sole proprietor for liability reasons. If you're bidding on office contracts regularly, forming an LLC and getting an EIN (even as a one-person operation) makes you look more established and simplifies invoicing, since you're billing under a business name rather than a personal one. You'll also need to charge sales tax on cleaning services in states where janitorial services are taxable — this varies by state, so check your state's department of revenue before your first commercial invoice goes out.
Invoicing and getting paid on commercial contracts
Commercial clients pay differently than residential customers — expect net-15 or net-30 terms rather than payment at time of service. This means cash flow planning matters more, and consistent, professional invoicing becomes part of your pricing strategy, not an afterthought. Late or inconsistent invoices are one of the most common reasons small cleaning companies lose otherwise-good commercial contracts.
Running scheduling, recurring invoicing, and client communication manually gets messy fast once you're juggling multiple office contracts with different frequencies and billing dates. CleanWhale handles online booking, recurring scheduling, automated invoicing, and client reminders in one place, so contracts don't fall through the cracks as you scale past your first few commercial clients. Check pricing plans or see the full feature list to see if it fits how you run your business.