How to price carpet cleaning

Per room pricing is what customers understand, so most carpet cleaners use it. The catch is that rooms are not the same size and stairs, hallways and stains all take time. Price from your production rate and costs first, then turn that into room prices and a minimum.

What goes into a carpet cleaning price

• Labor. Moving light furniture, pre-spray, cleaning, grooming and setup and pack-up.
• Solution and protector. Pre-spray, rinse, spot treatments and any protector you sell.
• Equipment. Truck mount fuel and hours, or portable unit wear, plus hoses and wands.
• Drive. Miles and time between jobs.
• Overhead and profit.

Setting your labor rate

Start with the wage. The closest group the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes is janitors and cleaners, the closest published group for carpet cleaning techs. In its May 2025 wage survey, that group's national mean wage was $18.64 an hour and the median was $17.71 (BLS OEWS 37-2011).

Add your labor burden on top: payroll taxes, workers' comp and any paid time off. If burden in your state comes to 20% of wages, a $18 an hour tech costs you $21.60 an hour. That loaded number is what goes into the job cost.

Fixr notes cleaners usually charge $25 to $65 per hour, with a 320 square foot room taking about 30 minutes to an hour (Fixr).

Per room and per square foot benchmarks

A worked example: five rooms and a hallway

About 1,100 square feet of carpet with a truck mount. Every input is an assumption.

1. Labor: 2 techs x 2.5 hours x $21.60 = $108
2. Solution, pre-spray and protector: $28
3. Truck mount fuel and wear: $30
4. Drive: 22 miles x $0.76 = $16.72
5. Direct cost: $108 + $28 + $30 + $16.72 = $182.72
6. Overhead plus profit: 25% + 15% = 40% of the price
7. Price: $182.72 / (1 - 0.40) = $182.72 / 0.60 = $305

Check it: 40% of $305 is about $122, and $305 minus $122 is about $183, the direct cost of $182.72. The profit and overhead are inside the price, not added on top of a cost you guessed.

That is about $0.28 a square foot, inside Fixr's $0.18 to $0.36 range. Divide it by your typical room count to set a per room price, and price stairs and hallways separately.

Set a minimum

Use the same math on the smallest job you would take, usually one or two rooms. Setup, drive and pack-up do not shrink with the job. Most cleaners land on a minimum that covers about an hour and a half of the truck.

Turn one clean into a yearly visit

Carpet is a repeat job. On Grow, campaigns text and email past customers when it is time again, with one tap to book. The reviews engine asks for a Google review an hour after the invoice is paid.

A Get a price button on your site can quote room counts from your own price list, day or night, and book the job on the same page.

Common carpet cleaning pricing mistakes

• Every room at one price. A 400 square foot living room is not a 120 square foot bedroom. Set a size cap per room.
• Free stairs. Stairs are slow. Price them per step or as a flight.
• Protector thrown in. It costs product and time. Sell it as the better option.

Questions contractors ask