Every kitchen exhaust system is a hood, a duct and a fan, but no two are the same length or the same dirt. Price each kitchen from a walkthrough: hood length, duct run and access panels, the fan on the roof, and how heavy the grease is. Then the cleaning schedule decides the yearly price.
- Walk every kitchen before you price it. Duct length and access decide the hours.
- HoodMart puts commercial hood cleaning at $102.96 an hour for a two-person crew, on average.
- Portland's fire code sets cleaning every month for solid fuel or wok cooking, every 3 months for high-volume kitchens and every 6 months for normal volume.
- Price the year: visits a year times the visit price, billed as a plan.
- Night work and roof access are part of the price, not extras.
Setting your labor rate
Start with the wage. The closest group the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes is janitors and cleaners. 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). Hood cleaning is night work with chemicals and roof access, so most crews pay above that.
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 $20 an hour tech costs you $24 an hour. That loaded number is what goes into the job cost.
How often the kitchen needs it
Local fire codes set the minimum, and they follow the kind of cooking. Portland, Oregon's fire code is a clear example:
| Kitchen | Minimum cleaning | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Solid fuel or wok cooking | Every month | Portland Fire |
| High-volume, fast food, 24-hour or char broiling | Every 3 months | Portland Fire |
| Normal volume cooking or baking | Every 6 months | Portland Fire |
Check your own fire marshal's rules; most follow the same idea. The schedule is how you price the year.
Published hood cleaning prices
Published hood cleaning prices are scarce. HoodMart, which sells hood systems, puts the average at $102.96 an hour for a two-person crew, and notes extra charges for travel, access panels and larger kitchens (HoodMart). Treat it as a rough check, and build your own price from your costs.
A worked example: one hood, quarterly
Every input is an assumption for the example.
- Scope: a 12 foot hood over a fryer line, a short duct and an upblast fan on a one-story roof. High volume, so cleaned every 3 months.
- Crew: two people, 3.5 hours on site, at $24 an hour loaded.
- Supplies: degreaser, plastic and containment, wastewater handling.
- Equipment: $40 a job toward the pressure washer and truck.
- Driving at 76 cents a mile, the IRS business rate for the second half of 2026 (IRS standard mileage rates).
- Overhead 20% of the price and profit 15%.
- Crew: 2 people x 3.5 hours x $24 = $168
- Degreaser and chemicals: $25
- Plastic, tarps and containment: $20
- Wastewater handling: $15
- Pressure washer and truck, per job: $40
- Drive: 30 miles x $0.76 = $22.80
- Direct cost: $168 + $25 + $20 + $15 + $40 + $22.80 = $290.80
- Overhead plus profit: 20% + 15% = 35% of the price
- Price: $290.80 / (1 - 0.35) = $290.80 / 0.65 = $447
Check it: 35% of $447 is about $156, and $447 minus $156 is about $291, the direct cost of $290.80. The profit and overhead are inside the price, not added on top of a cost you guessed.
That is about $127.71 for each crew hour on site, above HoodMart's $102.96 average for a two-person crew, which is reasonable for night work with your own overhead and profit inside it. Four visits a year is $1,788.
Sell the year, not the visit
Restaurant owners budget by the year. Offer the schedule the code calls for as one plan. On Front Office, Koira's maintenance plans bill each kitchen and book its visits, and commercial outreach writes to restaurants near you.
Common hood cleaning pricing mistakes
- Priced by hood length only. The duct run and the fan are most of the work.
- No access panel charge. Installing missing access panels is its own job.
- Heavy first clean at the regular price. A neglected system takes far longer the first time.
- Visits priced one at a time. Price and bill the year.
Sources
Every published figure on this page was read on the source page itself on the date shown. Worked example inputs are assumptions, labeled as such.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (37-2011), checked October 9, 2026
- Portland Fire and Rescue: FIR 8.08, kitchen exhaust cleaning frequency, checked October 9, 2026
- HoodMart: The average cost of a commercial exhaust hood cleaning, checked October 9, 2026
- IRS: Standard mileage rates, checked October 9, 2026
Questions contractors ask
How much should I charge for hood cleaning?
Build it from crew hours, supplies and the trip. HoodMart puts the average at $102.96 an hour for a two-person crew.
How often does a restaurant hood need cleaning?
It depends on the cooking. Portland's fire code sets every month for solid fuel or wok cooking, every 3 months for high-volume kitchens and every 6 months for normal volume.
Should I charge more for the first cleaning?
Often yes. A neglected system takes much longer the first time. Price it from the walkthrough.
How do I price a yearly contract?
Multiply the visit price by the visits the kitchen's cooking calls for, and bill it as a plan.
