Commercial Cleaning Rates per Square Foot

The commercial cleaning rates per square foot tool estimates what a janitorial company might charge to clean a space, and shows the result as a rate per square foot per cleaning and per month. It runs in your browser, is free, and needs no account or sign-up. Nothing you type is uploaded.

Enter your square footage, choose the type of space, and set how many times a week it is cleaned. The estimate is built from cleaner hours, a janitorial hourly rate, and a 5% supplies charge, so you can compare how a 2,000 sq ft office and a 10,000 sq ft warehouse might compare on the same schedule. Use it as a starting point for budgeting or bidding, not as a quote from a local company. The page opens with 10,000 sq ft so you can see a full example straight away.

How to use the Commercial Cleaning Rates per Square Foot Calculator

1. Enter the Area to clean in square feet. The page opens with 10,000 sq ft.
2. Pick the Type of space from the menu: Office, Medical / dental, Retail store, School / daycare, Warehouse, Restaurant, Gym / fitness, or Church / event hall. Each type has a default production rate, such as 2,000 sq ft per hour for an office and 4,000 for a warehouse.
3. Choose Cleanings per week: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 7.
4. Optional: enter an Own production rate in sq ft per hour if you know how fast your crew works. Leave it empty to use the default for the type.
5. Select a State from “US average” or any of the 50 states and DC.
6. Read the big box for the rate per square foot per cleaning. The monthly price range appears in the result, and the receipt lists the production rate, hours per visit, rate, price per visit, visits per month, price per month, and rate per square foot per visit and per month.
7. Scroll to the table of the same space by type of building to compare types side by side.

If a number looks off, check Type of space first, because the production rate sets the cleaner hours and a change of type moves the rate far more than a change of state does.

Settings are kept in the page address, so the Copy link button shares or bookmarks your exact estimate.

What is the going rate for commercial cleaning per square foot?

There is no single going rate, because the price depends on the size, type, and schedule of the space. In this model, a 10,000 sq ft office cleaned once costs about $0.016–$0.022 per sq ft per visit, and a 5,000 sq ft office cleaned five nights a week costs $0.35–$0.48 per sq ft per month. Thumbtack’s commercial cleaning prices page (updated Mar 31, 2026) reports a typical commercial job at $161–$402, with most paying about $253, and one-time office jobs from $211 for up to 1,000 sq ft to $834 for 4,000–5,000 sq ft.

How do you calculate commercial cleaning rates?

Start with the cleaner hours per visit: square feet divided by the production rate. Then multiply the hours by the janitorial company rate and by 1.05 to add 5% for supplies. The company rate is the BLS median wage for janitors and cleaners ($17.71/hr, OEWS May 2025) multiplied by a 2.0 commercial markup, which gives $31.00–$42.36 per hour (mid $35.42).

For example, a 5,000 sq ft office at 2,000 sq ft per hour takes 2.5 hours per visit. Monthly cost is the price per visit multiplied by visits per week and then by 52 ÷ 12.

Is the rate per square foot per visit or per month?

It is both. The big box shows the rate per square foot per cleaning, and the receipt shows the rate per visit and per month. Five cleanings a week works out to about 21.7 visits a month, so the monthly figure is much larger than the per-visit figure. Compare quotes using the same unit, because a per-visit rate and a per-month rate for the same space look very different.

Why do medical offices cost more per square foot?

The tool’s default production rate for a medical or dental space is 1,200 sq ft per hour, compared with 2,000 for an office. A slower rate means more cleaner hours for each square foot, and the same hourly rate applies, so the cost per square foot is higher. The tool does not add a separate medical charge, so the difference comes entirely from the production rate. Compare the two types in the table to see the effect.

What production rate should I use?

Leave the field empty to use the default for your type of space. This is the simplest starting point and is what the tool assumes when you change the type. Enter your own rate only if you know how many square feet one cleaner covers per hour in that kind of space, for example from your crew’s past jobs. A lower rate means more hours and a higher price, so trying both values shows you the range.

Frequently asked questions

What costs are not included in the estimate?

A first deep clean, floor care (stripping, waxing, carpet extraction), windows, and restroom paper supplies are usually priced separately. Get separate quotes for these and add them to the monthly estimate.

Does the State setting change the price?

Yes. It scales the estimate by the state’s median cleaner wage from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, May 2025), divided by the national median of $17.71/hr. For specialty services, only the labor share of the price (assumed at 60%) moves with wages. This is an estimate, not a local quote.

Can I use this result as a final bid price?

No. The result is a starting point for budgeting or comparison. Confirm the final figure with local pricing, the scope of work, and any services that are priced separately.

Does a bigger space cost less per square foot?

Not in this model. A 5,000 sq ft office at the same rate works out to the same $0.016–$0.022 per sq ft per visit as a 10,000 sq ft office, because the price scales with the hours. A bigger building costs more in total, but its rate per square foot stays the same.

Is a warehouse cheaper per square foot than an office?

Yes, in this model. The warehouse default is 4,000 sq ft per hour against 2,000 for an office, so it needs half the cleaner hours for each square foot. The hourly rate is the same for both, so the difference comes from the production rate.

Is the tool free, and do I need an account?

The tool is free, runs in your browser, and needs no account or sign-up. Nothing you type is uploaded. Saving estimates and branded quotes are not available yet, so use Copy link to keep your settings.

Related tools

• Commercial cleaning cost calculator: Use it when you want a cost breakdown for a specific cleaning plan.
• Cleaning bid calculator: Use it when you are preparing a bid for a cleaning contract.
• Janitorial bid calculator: Use it when you are pricing janitorial work for a building or site.
• Office cleaning checklist: Use it to list the tasks a cleaning scope should include before you price it.
• Cleaning proposal template: Use it when you need a structure for presenting your price to a client.
• How our estimates work: Use it to see the data and assumptions behind the numbers on this page.