- The middle half earn between $14.33 and $18.97 an hour.
- Montana ranks 20th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Montana pays more than all 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 5,380 house cleaners on payrolls in Montana.
- At the state median wage, a cleaning company needs to bill about $100.76 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
House Cleaner pay in Montana, bottom to top
BLS files house cleaners under maids and housekeeping cleaners, a group that also includes hotel and hospital housekeeping staff.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $13.50 | $28,080 | $13.29 |
| 25th percentile | $14.33 | $29,800 | $14.59 |
| Median | $17.18 | $35,740 | $17.07 |
| 75th percentile | $18.97 | $39,460 | $19.03 |
| 90th percentile | $23.66 | $49,210 | $23.35 |
| Average (mean) | $17.66 | $36,720 | $17.83 |
From the bottom tenth ($13.50) to the top tenth ($23.66), the top of the scale pays about 1.8 times the bottom in Montana, close to the 1.8 times spread for house cleaners nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $13.50 against $13.29 at the bottom tenth, and $23.66 against $23.35 at the top.
The average, $17.66, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Montana compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $35,740 in Montana against $35,510 nationally, $230 more.
In the state ranking, Montana sits 20th, between Connecticut ($17.39) and Arizona ($17.13). The range runs from $12.19 in Mississippi to $24.81 in Hawaii.
Montana pays house cleaners more than any of its neighboring states, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Montana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $17.18 | $35,740 | |
| Idaho | $16.62 | $34,560 | −$0.56 an hour |
| North Dakota | $16.85 | $35,050 | −$0.33 an hour |
| South Dakota | $14.40 | $29,950 | −$2.78 an hour |
| Wyoming | $15.32 | $31,870 | −$1.86 an hour |
How many house cleaners work in Montana
About 5,380 house cleaners work on payrolls in Montana, 0.6% of the 860,670 nationwide, the 41st largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 10.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Montana, 1.9 times the national share.
What a cleaning company in Montana should charge
Say you run a cleaning company in Montana and pay the state median of $17.18 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $17.18 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $38,468 |
| Break-even rate | ($38,468 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $85.65 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $85.65 ÷ 0.85 | $100.76 |
That is $100.76 per billable hour, 5.9 times the wage, and almost the same as the $100.57 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $18.97 in Montana, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $103.90.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $14.33, the rate only drops to $95.75.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a house cleaner in Montana
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how cleaning companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 37-2012, maids and housekeeping cleaners, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: house cleaner salary by state.