Air Duct and Dryer Vent Cleaning profit margin benchmarks
The IRS reports what one-owner businesses filing Schedule C earn, by sector. Air Duct and Dryer Vent Cleaning falls under Administrative and support services. For tax year 2023, 3,118,914 returns reported $114.4 billion in receipts, $17.9 billion in cost of sales and $24.2 billion in net income less deficit (the table gives thousands of dollars):
| Benchmark | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 84.3% |
| Net margin, owner pay included | 21.2% |
| Average receipts per return | $36,687 |
| Average net income per return | $7,769 |
The owner's own draw is not an expense on a Schedule C, so that net margin is mostly the owner's wage, not profit on top of it.
Where the money goes in duct and dryer vent cleaning
Duct cleaning is labor, the vacuum machine and the truck. Dryer vents are short visits where drive time decides the margin.
Where duct and dryer vent cleaning margin leaks, and how to win it back
- No job minimum
- Extra systems cleaned at no charge
- Drive time on single dryer vent jobs
- Add-ons not offered on the visit
- Machine repairs
Ways duct cleaners raise margin: set a job minimum; price extra systems on their own; sell dryer vents and filters on the same visit; book yearly vent reminders.
Check your duct and dryer vent cleaning prices against the costs
The typical national prices from our sourced calculators are a check on whether your prices leave room for margin:
| Service | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Air duct cleaning | $0.24 | $0.15 to $0.33 a sq ft |
| Supply vent | $35 | $25 to $50 a vent |
| Return grille | $58 | $40 to $75 a return |
| Job minimum | $150 | $150 to $150 a job |
| Dryer vent cleaning, ground floor | $126 | $90 to $163 a job |
| Dryer vent cleaning, second floor | $155 | $118 to $193 a job |
Work out the margin on each line of your menu, not just the big jobs. The usual duct and dryer vent cleaning menu: air duct cleaning; supply vent; return grille; job minimum; dryer vent cleaning, ground floor; dryer vent cleaning, second floor; dryer vent cleaning, roof exit; bird guard; furnace and blower cleaning; sanitizing; video inspection; vent reroute or new run.
Overhead comes out of the margin before profit. In duct and dryer vent cleaning it includes general liability insurance, which Insureon's customers who are contractors as a group pay an average of $83 a month for; commercial auto at $270 a month on the same figures.
Work out your own margin
Put one recent duct and dryer vent cleaning job into the calculator above, or switch it to "My margin for the year" to set your year next to the IRS benchmark. A 50% markup is a 33% margin; the markup calculator shows the rest.
Sources
- IRS Statistics of Income: Nonfarm sole proprietorships, Table 2, income statements by industrial sector, tax year 2023, checked October 9, 2026
- IRS: SOI tax stats, nonfarm sole proprietorship statistics, checked October 9, 2026
- Insureon: Insurance cost for contractors as a group, checked October 9, 2026
- Fixr, air duct cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- HomeAdvisor, cost to clean ducts and vents, checked October 8, 2026
- Bob Vila, air duct cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Today's Homeowner, air duct cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- This Old House, air duct cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- US EPA, should you have the air ducts in your home cleaned, checked October 8, 2026
- Thumbtack, air duct cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files), checked October 8, 2026
- US Census Bureau, 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to county relationship file, checked October 8, 2026
- Fixr, dryer vent cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Bob Vila, dryer vent cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Thumbtack, dryer vent cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
Last checked October 9, 2026. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and differ by state and city, so confirm with the agency named before you act.