What To Pay House Cleaners

There is a market rate, and then there is the number that actually keeps a specific cleaner working with you. They are not the same, and only the second one matters.

The split

In a referral model a common residential split is 60 percent to the cleaner, 40 percent to the agency, but it is your decision: 50/50, 55/45, 65/35 and 70/30 all exist. Commercial usually shifts toward 50/50 because jobs are larger, more repetitive and harder to sell.

The framing you will repeat weekly for the life of the business: the agency percentage is not taken out of the cleaner pay. The client is paying for two things, the cleaning and the coordination. Cleaners who believe you are skimming wages leave. Cleaners who understand the client is buying two things stay.

The number that actually retains

Ask in the interview what they currently charge their own clients. If your split pays less than that, they will treat your jobs as filler and leave the first slow month. If it matches or beats it, you have a much better chance of keeping them.

That single question predicts retention better than anything else you can ask.

Discounts are shared, so price high enough

You will run promotions. In my business every discount is shared: the cleaner percentage is calculated on the discounted total, so the cleaner and the agency both absorb it. That only works if base prices are high enough to begin with.

Pass tips through in full, and share the fees

Credit card tips, always, itemized. Late cancellation fees should pay the cleaner too, because that fee exists so the person who held the slot gets something when the work vanishes. Whether all of it or a set amount goes to them is your call. Put the rule in writing so they know it in advance.

Pay reliably, and explain the timing

Weekly settlement report, then payment. Build a review window between the two so errors get caught before money moves. And warn people about bank holidays in advance, not the week they happen.

For how the client-side number is built, see how much to charge.

What the split looks like in real numbers

A $200 job at sixty percent pays the professional $120. If the job takes four hours, that is $30 an hour before their supply costs and travel. Their supplies might run two to four dollars per job, and travel is unpaid.

Call it $27 to $28 an hour net. That is your actual competitive number, and it is what a candidate is comparing against their private rate, not the $120 headline.

Where operators get the split wrong

Two mistakes. Pricing jobs too low, so sixty percent of a small number is not worth accepting. And underestimating time, so a job priced at four hours takes six and the effective hourly collapses.

Both show up the same way: cleaners accept your jobs for a month, then stop. Falling acceptance rate is the earliest warning and it precedes anyone actually quitting by weeks.

When to consider a different split

Commercial work typically moves toward fifty-fifty, because jobs are larger and repeat without ongoing sales effort. Very large residential jobs sometimes justify a slightly lower percentage with a higher absolute number. And some operators pay a higher percentage on jobs that are hard to fill, such as far-out suburbs or same-day coverage.

Whatever you do, publish the rule. Ad-hoc percentages that vary by job create the impression that you are deciding based on what you can get away with.

The settlement cycle

Weekly is standard. Report first, payment after a short review window so errors are caught before money moves. Same day every week, without exception, because payout reliability is the single strongest retention factor you control.

Warn about bank holidays a week ahead. A late payout with no warning does more damage than a lower split.

Tips and fees, again

Pass through one hundred percent of tips, itemised so they can see it. Share cancellation and lockout fees with the professional who held the slot, on a rule they know in advance. Keeping tips, or keeping the whole fee, is the fastest way to be talked about badly in the local cleaner community.

From my experience

At Patriot Maids the split is 60% to the cleaning professional and 40% to the agency. At Blank Canvas Cleaning, my newer brand with lower prices, it's 65/35. The split is your choice. What matters is what it works out to per hour.

So I start there. In my experience, competitive pay is usually around $30 to $35 an hour, and it varies by market. In the interview I ask what they're making right now, then walk them through how a booking comes in. The provider app shows their pay up front, and they can accept or reject any job with no penalty.

Tips go 100% to the cleaner. Add-ons get the same split as the cleaning.

Discounts are shared. The split is on the discounted total, so both sides absorb it. That only works because our prices are about 30% to 40% above the market.

Late cancellations pay the cleaner too, because they held that slot. Patriot Maids charges a flat fee after 12pm the day before, and a set share of it goes to the team.

Pay runs on a weekly cycle: Sunday to Saturday, tallied from BookingKoala, with deposits on Saturday.

Common questions

Is 60/40 standard?

It is common for residential referral work, and it is what Patriot Maids uses. It is still your choice: work out what the split means per hour for the cleaner. Commercial usually shifts toward 50/50 because jobs are larger and repeat without ongoing sales effort.

Should discounts reduce cleaner pay?

In my business, yes. All discounts are shared, because the split is calculated on the discounted total. That only works if your base prices are high enough that the cleaner share stays competitive.

How often should I pay?

Weekly, on the same day, without exception. Payout reliability is the strongest retention factor you directly control.