Window Cleaning profit margin benchmarks
The IRS reports what one-owner businesses filing Schedule C earn, by sector. Window 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 window cleaning
Window cleaning is almost all labor, so speed and route density decide the margin.
For a worked example, our window cleaning cost calculator puts window, inside and out at $8.00 to $16.00 a window, typical $12.00, and treats about 90% of that as labor. On the typical price, that is about $10.80 of labor and $1.20 of materials, equipment and everything else, before your overhead and profit.
Where window cleaning margin leaks, and how to win it back
- No job minimum
- Hard water and paint removal done free
- Screens included without pricing
- Ladder setups on tall homes
- Long drives between jobs
Ways window cleaners raise margin: set a job minimum; price screens and tracks as add-ons; sell twice-a-year plans; use a water-fed pole where it beats ladder time.
Check your window 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Window, inside and out | $12.00 | $8.00 to $16.00 a window |
| Pane | $6.00 | $4.00 to $8.00 a pane |
| Third floor and up | $4.00 | $3.00 to $5.00 a window |
| Commercial storefront | $12.50 | $7.00 to $18.00 a window |
| Screen cleaning | $3.12 | $1.25 to $5.00 a screen |
| Tracks and sills | $1.88 | $1.00 to $3.00 a window |
Work out the margin on each line of your menu, not just the big jobs. The usual window cleaning menu: window, inside and out; pane; third floor and up; commercial storefront; screen cleaning; tracks and sills; hard water stain removal; skylights; job minimum; recurring discount; gutter cleaning.
Overhead comes out of the margin before profit. In window cleaning it includes general liability insurance, which Insureon's customers who are window cleaners pay an average of $78 a month for; commercial auto at $250 a month on the same figures.
Work out your own margin
Put one recent window 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 window cleaners, checked October 9, 2026
- Fixr, window cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- HomeAdvisor, window cleaning cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Thumbtack, window cleaning prices, checked October 8, 2026
- CostHelper, window cleaning, checked October 8, 2026
- Housecall Pro, how to price window cleaning, checked October 8, 2026
- ThePricer, commercial window 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
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.